Levaste
by Tricytal
Summary: A story full of fun thrilling adventures, Bat's with sugar addictions, kid's with shiny obsessions, A girl soon yet to learn the truth about her past and who she really is, and a boy who unknowingly holds the key to unlock a world of destruction.
1. My Teacher Gives Me a Shock

**I own This story and all of it's characters, except for Kao. Kao is owned by LonelyUeki, who is also my editor.  
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16 years ago…_

"It's a..amazing", a doctor said in vast shock!

"What is?" Another man asked.

"Your child survived birth. H…he shouldn't be alive. It's AMAZING!" The doctor exclaimed.

"Well I guess God has a different plan for our child, honey" the man said smiling at his wife.

_10 years ago…_

"Garret, please sit down in your seat and do your work", a kindergarten teacher said exhausted from a tiresome day of teaching, or me but a teacher would never admit that. (Or would they?)

DING! DING! DING!

The recess bell rang loudly alerting the class of hyper/ sleepy, drool filled kids. The kids lined up in a single file line quietly, waiting anxiously for their teacher to give them the Okay to leave. The teacher barely got the first sound out, when the herd of obnoxious children charged outside to the playground. Teachers hated recess, the kids recess at least because for a whole half hour they would run around frantically yelling at children. "Don't eat that!" "Don't touch that!" "Don't do this!" "Don't do that!" "Don't touch that either, when it rattles it's mad!"

"GARRET! GET DOWN! RIGHT NOW!" A teacher roared to me in anger and frustration and annoyance as she stared hopelessly at me as I stood at the top of the 15 foot tall swing set.

"Why?" I questioned in a mocking, annoying childish voice. Finally I gave in after 15 minutes of arguing with the teacher, I decided to get down. I simply jumped right off and landed on the ground with a smile. The teachers all ran to me afraid they'd get fired or something for letting a 5 year old child do something like that.

I started to walk to the big kid's playground, which we weren't allowed to go to or play on, when suddenly I looked back to find a strange man, who had an evil and angry look on, sprinting his way straight to me. I knew what to do. Offering a sucker always calmed someone down. (Smile!) But this guy didn't seem to want my sucker. He slipped out a dagger and frantically slashed out at me. I rolled, ducked, and avoided his moves like a breeze.

The teachers stood in amazement, even though they should've been at my side protecting me since they are, I mean were the teachers.

"_Wha..t is this kid? He's so fast! He shouldn't be able to do this!" The strange man thought to himself. _

I ran to the giant big kid's jungle gym shaped like a rocket. It was so tall it was like 300 feet high! (Really about 15 feet, the word big kid just made it sound so much bigger) I climbed up as fast as I could, laughing, "Ha ha you can't catch me!"

I climbed higher and higher into rocket ship. The game of death to kill me, which I didn't understand at the time was to kill me, was going smooth up to the point where my foot slipped and brought me into the strange man's reach. My feet luckily hooked onto a bar, hanging me upside down. The man's eyes were weird, one was red and the other was white. I mean pure red and white. I tried to move out of the way as the man slashed his dagger across my right eye. It didn't scratch me eye, but it was definitely going to leave a scar. I didn't really feel the cut, but all I knew was that the teachers were almost here (on step closer to getting fired) and the strange man took off. I tried to pursue the man, but was held back by the teachers.

That night at home, grandpa came to visit.

"Hey kiddo, you alright", he said handing me a sucker?

"Mhmm", I said devouring my sucker.

"I don't have much time, but-"

"Why grandpa?" I asked.

"You'll understand one day, but I want you to have this", he said handing me a silver beaded necklace.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"Keep it with you wherever you go and one day you'll know what to do with it. Trust it and Trust God. They are the only two capable of protecting you."

"Grandpa, are you going to die", I asked as a tear trickled down my cheek.

"Everything passes with time, as do we my child", He responded.

"Aren't we people too", I asked.

"Yes, but we're different. Like I said, you'll understand one day. Now I must go, remember Trust. Trust is the key." Grandpa said as hurried out in a rush.

"…." I had no idea what had just happened, but whatever.

"Oh what did grandpa give you?" My mommy asked. I tugged it off around my neck and showed her as I continued to suck on my delicious sucker.

_5 years ago…_

"Garret, please stop disturbing the class and get down off your desk", my 5th grade teacher asked in annoyance.

"(Sigh) Fine", I said hopping down from my desk as the whole class applauded disturbance of the class.

DING! DING! DING!

The lunch bell rang and kids flocked out the door to the cafeteria. Of course as always, I got shoved to the back of the lunch line and as always the sixth grade kids made fun of me for wearing a silver beaded necklace. Being at the back of the line wasn't always that bad, I mean you got to take whatever you want and as much as you want.

Just as I was finally about to grab to food, a hand stopped me. I turned around sharply.

"Grandpa", I said shaking, knowing he'd been dead for ten years. The suddenly the vapor of his figure disappeared.

"Garret, go. It's your turn", a class mate said.

"Huh? Oh sorry", I said in confusion.

Then another hand grabbed me and spun me around. "_Remember me!" _The man yelled at me as he threw me across the cafeteria floor. Kids screamed and ran for the exits like ants that'd just got bombarded by a pile rocks thrown by little kids.

I picked myself up and shook the dirt off of my shirt. "I've been waiting for you for a while, because I want payback!" I yelled at the man with a red and white eye. He stared back at my scar that went down my right cheek and up my right eye.

The man charged. Once again I avoided his moves easily. I hopped from table to table maneuvering my way through his field of attacks. This time he attacked with a freaky looking sword. I tackled him to the floor off the tables. I elbowed him in the face right and left, that was until he got fed up and socked me 15 feet in the air. I snagged ahold of light, as the man from back then attacked me.

I hopped down and the man kicked and pinned me to the floor with his foot. I struggled to free myself from this bondage, but his foot must've weighed a ton. To prolong my last moments he decided to start monaloging and as he did, my silver beaded necklace suddenly drizzled down my neck like water, into my hand and formed a sword. Without thought I, swung as hard as I could, leaving a large gash on his leg.

I rolled away, free from the weight which held me down. I charged with the sword of silver which had somehow formed into my hand and took a swing at the man as he tumbled to the floor. He scurried to pick himself up.

"Who are you", I yelled!

"Your death", the man said a she jumped through the window, escaping me. My sword melted down into liquid in my hand and trickled its way up around my neck, back to its original silver beaded necklace form.

"Garret, what have you done", the principal said to me looking at the destroyed cafeteria. And as always I got blamed for whatever happened, like this.

_Present…_

"Garret", someone said from ahead of me. Yep that's me. The kid who always got distracted easily, always got in trouble, and always had the worst of luck (if ya know what I mean). I wore a pair of thrashed black skater shoes with faded camouflage lacing, a green '_Quick Silver'_ t-shirt, and my pair of favorite blue jeans. My jeans were baggy but not too baggy; put it this way I had plenty of room, but they wouldn't fall off.

"Huh?"

"Have you figured out the answer yet", my teacher said.

"Huh, no. Sorry, I kinda spaced out there for a sec", I replied in thought.

"Come see me after class, please", she said staring at my silver necklace, which slithered on my fingers back and forth hidden behind my book, or at least it was supposed to be hidden. _Had she seen it?_ Thoughts raced through my head. I'd hadn't been able to control my necklace much since I was 11 when it first transformed, but recently I was starting to regain control; little by little, so I'd been spending the past few weeks trying to figure it out and playing with it. I'd also never told anyone; like my parents still think destroyed the cafeteria. Ya, you can imagine how that went.

My class room was a typical classroom I guess. I mean there were about 20 desk and chairs, then Mrs. Claire's desk was up front by the door, and we had those annoying lights that buzz all day. There were these strange unique plants on both sides of the door; no one really paid any attention to them. Then there was the typical whiteboard at the front of the class, except this white tended to spark once in a while as if electricity were jumping from its metal frame to whoever was writing at the time, usually Mrs. Claire.

The rest of the day seemed to procrastinate and my teacher seemed to stare at me intensively, which really freaked me out. Then the bell rang, it peered into my hollow stare of thought. I started to get up to leave, when my teacher, Mrs. Claire, pushed me back down in my chair harshly.

"Forgetting something", she said creepily?

"Umm…no? Oh ya you wanted to talk to me", I said.

"I'm only going to ask once, so give it to me", she demanded.

"Give what?" I said trying to stall her for some odd reason; I just knew it was the right thing to do.

"Fine. Suit yourself. You wanna play games, then count me in", she said walking back to her desk with an evil chuckle.

"Huh?"

"What do you want? You didn't even ask me for anything", I said confused. Without hesitation, my freak teacher turned around sharply. She gave me a long stare. Then it finally happened in the midst of her creepy stare, her face suddenly cracked. A light blue light peeked through the cracks in her body. A chip fell off of her which pierced the quiet, eerie air around us as it shattered against the ground.

Immediately I ran for the door. Then a bolt of electricity shot down welding the edge of the door to the wall. I looked back to see my teacher shedding her human skin, which fell to the floor and shattered. Beneath her ex-human ski, was a blue figure. Her whole body beamed in an electrical shaded blue. I have to admit, her alien form or whatever was very eye catching. She zipped through the air at me and I dashed to the window out of her path of destruction.

I didn't know what my teacher was or what she wanted (or that she was even a girl!), but all I knew was that I didn't want to stick around for whatever she obviously wanted to dish out with me. I finally managed to pry open the window, as my teacher came back at me for more. I ducked as she swooped at me once more. I slammed the window shut and looked for another exit. But as always a second too late, the wall came down with a loud thundering crash. I ran outside, towards the back of the school as fast as I could. I was still trying to figure out what my teacher's power was; I mean obviously she had some sort of power.

Mrs. Claire (freak mode) flew through the air at me; my necklace slid down my body into my hand forming a giant axe. It formed in the midst of my swing, and made contact with my teacher's hand. Immediately my sword lit up electrifyingly, throwing me back several yards.

I picked myself up. Knowing at least what her power was was helpful. I charged back for more, not thinking. My teacher raised her hands, and fired a fleet of thunder bolts at me. I was hopeless, fighting against her. Just as the bolts should've electrified me, I looked up to find a girl diving through the air in front of me. My eyes lit in horror; I wouldn't let a girl take a hit for me, let alone save me. Too late, within seconds, a soft mist of chilling ice flew out of the girls will to form a wall of ice. The girl went down skidding hard on the asphalt.

She tried to pick herself up, but her arm gave out as the road rash on her arm throbbed out blood. I went to attack again, but this time I realized my necklace was gone. My necklace, formed sword shimmered about 30 feet away, in the dead center between my electrifying teacher and me. We both made way for it, in a hurry. Well at least I knew what she wanted now, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna give it to her.

My teacher snagged it moments before, I grabbed it.

"Thank you for this pathetic duel, children, but I must run now. Farewell", she said elevating herself into the sky. I wouldn't let my grandfather's gift get taken away from me that easily. I ran and jumped on the dumpster and leaped for the ladder. I climbed up the ladder rapidly and as I lifted myself onto the roof, a piece of metal melted off the ladder into my hand forming a sword. I charged on the roof, towards my teacher, which was now about 15 feet away from the edge of the roof. I simply ran and leaped, but it wasn't far enough. I closed my eyes tightly hoping for a miracle and to my surprise I fell on a sheet of ice, 30 feet in the air. I looked down for a sec to catch the smiling glimpse a young teenage girl.

The ice quickly started melting behind me. I got up and charged and leaped at me teacher once more. As I swung at my teacher to retrieve my necklace back, I heard a voice from down below.

"Don't touch the sword while you hit her!" The girl from below said.

In the midst of my swing, just as the blade was about to touch my teacher's arm, I let go.

Mrs. Claire simply laughed as electricity shot up the sword. Just as fast as the electricity shot up the sword, it shot back down. My teachers own attack back fired own us both with a large electrical blast, sending us both to the ground. As I fell landed on a hard sheet of ice about ten feet in the air. Pain shot into my shoulder. I glanced at the girl.

"You could've done that a bit sooner", I groaned as I fell to the ground with a _THUD_ as the ice gave way beneath me.

"Well you could at least be thankful, I even saved you", she said proudly with a smiling grin.

"You didn't save me. I was doing just fine, until you came", I snapped back!

"And that sheet of ice I made for you to walk on didn't help? Or the wall of ice I USED TO SAVE YOU!" She barked back. I picked up myself and walked over to my necklace. I stared at it, in thought.

"Hey, the Police are coming. Let's go!" The girl urged tugging on my arm. She started to drag me away, but I ran back. I stretched out my arm and the Silver Beaded Necklace flew up my arm and back around my neck.

"Wait, why are we running?" I asked.

"Because, do you want to be the one to explain to the police that you have a _'Magical necklace thingy, fought your teacher who is an electrical person/ thingy, and was saved by a girl with Magnificent ice powers.' _No, you don't. That's what I thought. So let's go!" She said in a persistent childish mimicking voice.

"Wait who made you boss? And you never saved me!" I said as I started to hear sirens in the background. And with that, I followed without hesitation.

"Guys are always in denial", she said with a smirk. Then realizing what she'd just said, looking at me glare at her, she said, "Aww, whatever, you know what I mean."

We ran around the school and down the street. There was a strange silence, until I broke it.

"So what exactly are you?" I asked her.

"The same as you", she said sarcastically.

"Human", she finished with a chuckle.

"So you don't a have special name or anything", I questioned further.

"Well some boys call me the '_the cuteness _or_ the awesomeness' _you can choose whichever", she said choking in her laughter and sarcasm. I gave her a plain stare, the kind you give when you don't find something humorous. She was about 14 years old or so, had brown shoulder length hair, dark brown eyes, and she stood about 5'4. She wore just a pair of plain ole' tennis shoes, faded blue jeans, and a worn out blue t-shirt.

"ALICE, come quick", a man in shock said cutting me off just as I was about to speak.

"Kao, what's wrong", the girl said, whose name is apparently Alice.

"It…it…just happened. We didn't know what to do. I couldn't stop it….I'm sorry. I'm sorry", he pleaded with her.

As we approached a house Alice's facial expression changed dramatically. Her eyes burned red with tears and anger. One tear found its way to the ground, and that was the last. Alice's fist clenched tightly, as her breathes grew shorter and heavier.

"Alice, I'm sorry. I tried", Kao said as he started to choke up.


	2. LEO

Alice stared in horror.

"Wh…where are they", Alice voiced out as her voice shook and trembled.

"Alice, we can't catch them or stop them; there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry", Kao said in great sorrow.

Alice stood there and stared. She wouldn't move. I didn't blame her though, because if you saw what had happened you'd understand. Her face turned pale and her eyes started to lose their color. Her eyes wanted cry, but she wouldn't let them.

"I promised I wouldn't let this happen." She said as her voice trembled some more.

"There was nothing you could do about it", I tried to convince her. She looked at me in vast anger. I wasn't' too comfortable with the way she looked at me, It kinda creeped me out. Okay, I take that back; it really creeped me out.

"Y…You", She growled at me.

"?"

"It was you!" She screamed at me through her sorrow.

"You think I did this? If I recall you were with me the whole time and remember you saved?" I pleaded with her. I didn't know why but I sensed a different coming from her. She wasn't the Alice that I'd known. (For the past few hours….lol)

"Alice!" Kao yelled, "Umm… you should really get out of here, like right now."

"Huh? What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"If it weren't for you they'd all be alive!" Alice screamed loudly.

"Well, things are about to get really ugly", Kao insisted as he watched Alice persistently. He walked around her slowly. "No sharp movements." He said as Alice's eyes started to glow.

"Kao, tell me what's going?" I asked standing as still as I could.

Alice Stood there like a statue. Her eyes continued to glow.

"In a moment, she's gonna notice you; at that point run", Kao insisted.

"Just TELL ME what is going on!" I demanded once more.

"L.E.O.", Kao said softly.

"Leo?" I said as Alice started to stir, "Wait what's wrong with Alice and what's Leo?"

"It's L.E.O. and Alice is gone", Kao said as he dove to his left avoiding a giant sickle erupt from the earth.

"AWWW! What was that? Where's Alice? And what is L.E.O.?" I asked running around frantically maneuvering through a field of ice sickles as the broke through the earth's crust.

"L.E.O., _Levaste Encrypted Overdrive", _Kao said as fleet of ice shards soared over his head straight towards me. I saw them coming and summoned a shield out of my necklace. The shards came down hard on the shield. The impacts threw me back a step.

"And would you mind explaining that to me?" I asked in annoyance of the continuous fleet of ice shards that hail at me.

"Well, if you'd give me a chance. A Levast is a person who has a power. Levaste is the power itself." He said hiding behind a burnt down shed.

"And L.E.O.?"

"Would you stop that? You always cut me off just as I'm about to answer your stupid question!" Kao barked. "L.E.O., it's an encrypted vast amount of Levaste hidden inside ones power and when one taps into it, it sends that one's power into overdrive. Once the power has reached max overdrive, it'll take over the person's body and if it's left in control long enough that person will never come back. So don't even try to tap into it, not like you could if you wanted to anyway."

Alice stood there waving her hands in unique motions summoning and willing the ice to L.E.O.'s will. Small funnels of whirling snow and ice took place around her body. The grass at her feet was frozen. The air in the area grew colder and colder.

"So Alice is in L.E.O. state, she's becoming extremely powerful by the sec, she might not ever get to come back. Is the anything else I need to know?" I asked sarcastically sliding on the ice barely missing the spear which was hurled at me.

"Well this happened once when she was little, but her powers weren't fully developed at the time, so it was easy to tame. Also it is extremely hard to tap into L.E.O. and you should never ever want to." Kao stated harshly, but I knew he was emphasizing it for my safety.

Finally Alice moved. Now obviously the L.E.O. had taken full control; there was no time to waste.

"Kao, we have to stop it now!" I yelled.

"Duh, you think? OOhhh! A penny!" Kao yelled in happiness.

"What?" I questioned in confusion. What good was a penny to us at the moment; I couldn't see the logic in this.

"Oh, sorry. Nothing", Kao said.

Alice moved towards us in a speedy manner. Kao Ran towards her also.

At that Alice stuck her hands out and shot out a giant beam of ice. Kao Cocked his right fist back, as it turned to fire. He leaped through the air horizontally right at the Ice beam.

As the ice beam engulfed him he let loose his socked arm. The ice beam, about 3 feet thick, seemed to have swallow him whole, but as I looked closer I realized that he wasn't frozen in one place; he was melting his way through the ice beam. I saw his horizontal body figure zip through the beam.

About 30-45 seconds later, he broke free meeting Alice face to face. The ice beam still flew out of her hands, that was until Kao, with his hands of fire took hold of Alice hands, which were straight out in front of her body still forming the ice beam.

Kao tried to overpower the ice beam with his flame; Alice's body (L.E.O.) struggled spinning around frantically while Kao grabbed on. He continued to force his flame upon her hands. Kao had only one choice left; he took his knee to her stomach. The two powers had finally come to a standstill. Kao held onto Alice's hands softly as she slowly gained control over herself.

"Alice?" Kao asked.

"Huh? What happened?" Alice moaned out as she collapsed to the ground unconscious. Alice's arm still bled from the road rash. The chill throughout the air was carried away by the gentle wind. The frosted ground around melted away into a small stream which led itself into the gutter. Kao sat there looking at his hands. And normally I would've done something if I saw a guy knee a girl, but it was his only way to keep their powers neutralized while knocking her out.

"What's the matter, now?" I asked.

"I've never been able to do anything like that. It…it just happened. I mean I just suddenly felt empowered, then blasted my way through the ice beam, and… and kneed her." He said feeling regretful.

"You did what you had to. We should get going before the police show up here too", I said thinking of how Alice had told me that only a few hours ago. I walked over to Alice to pick her up, even though I had no idea where to go, but Kao stopped me.

"No, I'll get her. She's my sister; I'll take care of her", He said sternly, yet bravely. My mouthed dropped.

"You're her sister!" I yelled in surprise.

"Actually I'm her brother and oh ya, will you stay here for sec. I'll be right back", Kao said running back to the scene of our fight. He ran back joyful flipping a coin in the air.

"What is it", I asked.

"It's a shiny penny!" He exclaimed. I simply glared at him. _'Wow easily amused. That could come in handy?' _I thought to myself.

"So where are we going, now", I asked as we walked aimlessly.

"Well we can't stay at my house", He chuckled in sorrow and laughter.

"Well I can take you to my grandpa's house; it's really old and hasn't been used since…." I said stopping myself.

"Since?" Kao asked.

"Since my….. Grandpa died", I choked out.

"So were those…" I said as I got cut off.

"Our aunt and uncle and our nephew. Our parents died four years ago in an attack on us; our aunt and uncle were the only ones who knew about our powers, they said they'd protect us, but we knew we'd have to protect them. We just needed a place to live and it has gone smooth up until now." Kao said without choke, tear, or anything.

"She feels guilty?" I asked out.

"Ya, she blamed you cause she believes she could've prevented it, just like four years ago", Kao Stated, "when the attack took place."

"Hey I hope you don't mind me saying anything, but back at your…old house I only remember seeing to adult bodies." I concluded from my memory.

* * *

We approached the house. It creaked like a haunting house, you'd see in a scary movie. Weeds and brush had taken over the yard. Most of the stairs were broken. We nitpicked our way up the maze of holes in the stairs and on the deck. Since I was bare handed except for my backpack, I approached the door first and opened it. It was already unlocked and it groaned and squealed on its hinges.

"It should be empty", I said guarding myself from whatever could jump out at any moment. There was an only 1 dusty old couch left in the entire house. Kao and I checked to see if there was anyone or anything there. Nothing. No one.

Kao tore the dusty tarp off the couch, only to find the last thing he'd expect from under there.

"AWWWW!" Kao yelled violently, summoning his Spear of Fire. I summoned my sword as well, as I bolted to the dark, living room. Alice still lay asleep on the hard floor next to the wall.

As I ran into the living room, I realized what the big commotion was about. '_What is it?'_ I thought to myself.

"It's actually a who", a kid said as he sat up and yawned as if he'd heard my thought. He had a yellow Fox Racing t-shirt on, jeans, and no shoes. His hair was an ashy, blondish color. As he stretched, the real surprise came to hand.


	3. Team Starlight

As the kid stretched out, wings sprouted from behind him; and not just any wings, but the wings of a bat. His wings stretched out as he did, entering a full length of approximately 10 feet. (Each wing about 5 feet long). And on his arm he had hand-made gauntlets. They were made of the metal binder clippings in a binder, one for each arm, and had a medium sized kitchen knife attached at the end. The binder clipping were coated in leather, torn off of a jacket of some sort, so the clippings wouldn't dig into his skin.

Alice was still unconscious in the corner and Kao and I still had our weapons drawn.

"Hi, I'm chase", the creature said kindly as if he didn't notice the weapons in our hands. Kao and I stood there stunned, that the creature could talk.

"You don't have to treat me like I'm an animal or something, just cause' I have wings n' all", the creature, I mean '_Chase_', grumbled.

"Huh… what are you?" I asked in a low tone voice.

"Why does everyone freak out when they see me? I'm HUMAN!" _Chase_ said.

"Well sorry to break it to you, but you're not exactly the typical 'human'", Kao chuckled out. Chase glared.

"What he means is that most people don't usually have wings", I said trying to cheer him up.

"It's my Levaste; everyone makes fun of me though", chase said.

"Well we won't make fun of you", Alice said with a kind, soft voice waking up from the hard blow her brother had given to her earlier. Her hand immediately shifted to her gut, where she'd taken the hit. "I'm Alice."

"I'm Chase", he said smiling back.

"I know", Alice responded nicely, "You can join our team."

"Our team?" I questioned Alice.

"Uh, yeah. What's wrong with it?" She asked.

"Uh, you said team", I said.

"Yeah, so what?" She asked in a demanding tone.

"Since when are we a team?"

"Since I saved your life, TWICE!" she said proudly.

"You didn't save me, I was doing just fine without you and what would we even team up for", I asked in confusion?

"You'll see", she said with a smile. Deep inside I knew she'd saved me at least once, but I wasn't about to admit in front of everyone or to her for that matter.

Chase nodded his head in agreement, I sighed, and Kao laughed at our confusion as if he knew what was going to happen.

"Just tell me. I hate it when you do this kinda stuff", I yelled.

"How long have we known each other and since when have I ever pulled that trick on you?" She asked in a serious voice.

"I mean when people pull these kinda things", I responded correcting myself to avoid a stupid pointless argument.

"_Phantom Heart_", Alice responded in a low, creepy voice. Her voice shook and started to choke up.

'_Huh' Chase thought to himself. _

"They killed our parents and Aunt and Uncle", Kao said softly. Tears started to form in his eyes, but they never fell.

"They killed my parents, about 30 minutes after I was born", Chase choked out.

"They're going after my parents next aren't they", I said as I started to freak out?

"If they are directly related to your true family then they'd be dead by now", Kao said.

"Are you saying they aren't my real parents?"

"It's likely", Alice added.

"Not many Levast survive to adulthood and when they do they don't usually survive for long", Chase said.

'_Okay, so I might be adopted, nothing wrong with that; right?' I thought to myself._

"So what is _Phantom Heart_?" I asked.

"They're an organization that is out to collect Levaste' and use it them for themselves to take and control Earth", Alice said, "If they get enough Levaste, even the U.S., Chine, and Russia's powers combined couldn't stop them."

"How can they just use it, doesn't a Levaste choose its Levast?"

"L.E.O., they can manipulate and control one through it", Kao said, "Levaste are truly gruesome beast when they are not controlled by a Levast. That's why they integrate with a Levast."

"So is this what your supposed team is for? To stop _Phantom Heart?_" I asked.

"They're more powerful they you think. They have equipment which can force one to tap into L.E.O. instantly", Alice pleaded with me.

I suddenly realized why Alice was so concerned with destroying _Phantom Heart_.

"How long ago was it?" I said. Alice immediately realized that I knew.

"4 years ago, when my parents got killed. The only thing is my parents got killed rescuing me. They managed to tap into my L.E.O. for a moment or two, but ever since then it's been activated. Kao's watched over me since that time also", Alice said as if it took her every last breathe.

"Then count me in", I said loudly, "When one picks a fight with one of our team members, they pick a fight with our team."

"If we're a team, then we need a name", Chase said pulling out a large packet of sugar out of his pocket. We all stared at him as he poured three more packets into his mouth. "What I like sugar." We carried on with the conversation as if nothing happened.

"How about team awesome", Alice said.

"How about team realistic name", Kao said smirking at his sister.

It was starting to get dark outside and my parents were probably already worried sick about me; that is if their alive.

"Well we'll figure out a name tomorrow or something", Chase said. As we continued to walk outside, I glanced up.

"You guys, I know what are names gonna be", I yelled.

'_Huh' they all thought to themselves. _

"_Starlight" _My voice rang into their ears.

"It does have a catchy tune", Alice confirmed.

"_Team Starlight_ it is then!" Kao yelled.

"Don't I get a say in this", Chase whined from the background as he ran to catch up with us.

We walked through the dark, cold streets somehow comforted by fact knowing that we had someone to back us up, someone to be there, someone to lean on when you a need a hand. As a part of the team I had no idea where we'd go next.

* * *

As we walked, Chase heard something from above. A breeze swished by in and out, knocking Kao to the ground.

'_Huh' _

"Get down", Chase yelled as something appeared in the sky momentarily.

"Why? What?" I asked in confusion.

"Try th…that", shrieked Alice.


	4. The Shadow Tamer

I summoned my blade; my necklace trickled down my arm into a sword.

Chase flew into the air with his gauntlets ready.

"_Fire Akurei Tsume_", Kao yelled out summoning his spear of fire.

Alice threw her arms back, pointing her fingers into one, forming her hands and arms into giant double sided, bone chilling ice Scythe's.

A shadow zipped in and out of the shadows of the trees. We weren't alone. I couldn't tell if there were multiple shadows moving or just one really fast one. Voices started to chant all around, which normally would've creeped me out but I had my team with me. The shadows started to move faster and faster.

Finally after waiting about 2 minutes, a shadow in the form of a man mystified in front of Chase. Chase lunged his gauntlets forward into the hovering shadow. The shadow immediately engulfed Chase with a giant swift gulp of its dark, shadowy mouth.

"No one touches my team mate", Kao yelled injecting _Fire Akurei Tsume _into the shadow. A fire grew from the spear engulfing the shadow as it pierced it. The shadow coughed and spewed out Chase, as if he didn't like roasted bat. Chase fell 10 feet onto a sheet of ice, smashing through it as though it were glass.

"I guess I could have made that a bit thicker", Alice smirked.

"Ya think", Chase remarked as he ran to rejoin the fight.

I double timed it to the fight. I leaped through the air and slashed at the shadow. The shadow vanished in a puff of darkness.

"What was that", Alice asked.

"I dunno", Chase said pouring several packets of sugar into his mouth.

Suddenly more started from.

"HALT!" a controlling voice spoke. The shadows melted down back into the shadows of the trees.

We all spun around to see who the shadow tamer was. A dark, sleek and slender man stood the tossing a coin up in the air as he leaned against a tree. He wore dark blue, worn out jeans; a bikers muscle cut shirt, and a pair of pitch black hiking boots. He had a 5 o' clock shadow growing and shoulder length black, oily hair. He was probably about 18 years old or so.

"Sup'", he grinned out.

"Who are you", Alice asked in interest?

"I could be your worst nightmare", he chuckled, "or your dream come true."

"Gross", Alice said sternly.

"What do you want", Kao demanded harshly?

"Well the girl could do."

"Back off, freak", Kao and I said.

"I'm a Shadow Tamer and if you're going to go after _Phantom Heart_, you're gonna need", the Shadow Tamer said.

"How'd know about that? And who are you, _Phantom Heart_?" I yelled out in annoyance.

"If I were _Phantom Heart _you'd be dead; that's why you need me", he said.

"Well look at the time, we've gotta go. I had such a nice time talking to you, bye!" Chase said trying to end the topic.

"We've already got a full team anyway", Kao said.

"You think four kids are gonna stop _Phantom Heart_? Well then you're in for a big surprise", the Shadow Tamer said.

"Just leaves us alone, we'll be fine", Alice barked out.

"Fine, but you know what they say _'If you're not for 'em, then your against 'em'_" the Shadow Tamer said as his eye's grew in rage. He raised 4 shadows from the shadows of trees.

"Kill 'em", The Shadow Tamer said.

"What you can't fight your own fight?" Chased yelled.

"You want me to fight, Eh?" He said, "_SHADOW INTEGRATION!_"

Shadows of all shapes and sizes formed and jumped into the tamer's body. His skin started to turn to a black metallic color. Black mist foamed around fist as he clenched to grip on his sanity as became overwhelmed with shadows.

"ENOUGH!" The Shadow Tamer yelled, "Ready to fight, bird boy?"

"I'M NOT A BIRD!" Chase yelled as he charge, flew to the Shadow Tamer with immense speed.

As Chase neared his target, he slashed at the tamer with his gauntlets. Chase punched relentlessly at the tamer, unfortunately the tamer counter attacked. The tamer filled his fist even fuller of shadowy mist, and then unleashed it on Chase's side. Chase fell to the ground in agreement with gravity, bringing the knife of his gauntlet across the tamers right arm.

The Shadow Man swiftly tackled Chase to the ground. Chases batted his wings with intense force, shooting the tamer off of him.

"Practice round over. Now for the real fight, you ready?" The tamer grinned out holding his arm.

"Now I am", Chase said pouring another packet of sugar into his mouth.

"He does gonna end up being diabetic when he's older or something", Alice said.

"Well I'm not gonna sit here while a team mate gets pulverized", I yelled summoning my sword.

"NO! I've got. I'm fine. This is my fight!" Chase yelled out in rage.

"Don't have to tell us twice", Kao smirked.

Chase snagged ahold of the tamer as he soared into the sky. The tamer took a chance and took a shot at Chase's face. The two fell to earth fast, both trying to regain their balance…in the air. The tamer fell and disintegrated in a cloud of shadowy mist. Chase fell on a table of ice about 3 feet thick.

"Okay, too thick", Chase said heaving for air.

"Never, thankful are you", Alice said.

The tamer reappeared, standing in front of Chase, with one foot on him.

"Who's next?" the Shadow Tamer boasted out loudly.

"YOU!" Chase said as he pierced his gauntlets into the back of the tamers knees. We could see the knives pierce out of the front of his knee caps.

"ARGGGHHHGGHHHHH!" the tamer cried out in agony and pain. Unable to walk, he tried to crawl to Chase. Chase picked himself up ran back next to us, us as in his team. The Shadows fled from him hissing, "_Weakling! You're not worthy to be a Shadow Tamer!"_

Alice grabbed the man's wallet which had fallen on the ground, while Chase and him went airborne.

"Seth Branson", Alice said.

"Who are you?" Seth groaned out in pain.

"_Team Starlight_", Alice said dropping his wallet next to him.

Alice froze his knees front and back to stop the pain temporary.

"Why didn't we let him join our team?" Alice asked.

"Because I'm not about to let perverted freak near my sister", Kao stated ending the conversation. The team split up and went home.

* * *

It was 11 O' Clock; _'I'm so grounded', _I thought to myself as I opened the front door as quietly as I could. It was dark, just as it should be at 11 O' Clock. The lights suddenly flickered on as my mom and dad stood there staring at me.

"Okay, I can explain", I pleaded.

"No need", my dad sighed looking at the living room which was now destroyed.

"So am I grounded?" I said looking at the devastated room trying not to laugh at my own remark. My parents both burst out in laughter.

"That's the only thing you've got to say?" My mom chuckled out.

"Umm, no? Oh ya, I'm sorry?" I said in confusion. They laughed some more.

"It's okay, we know. We've known for that much", my dad said calmly sighing again at the sight of his ex-living room.

I summoned out my sword to see if my parents would be surprised. Their facial expressions didn't change.

"Okay, just checking", I said, "So you know about _Phantom Heart_?"

They stared at the living room and looked back at me. I managed a half smile, implying _'IT WASN'T MY FAULT!' _


	5. The First Strike

Today's Friday; mystery meat at school, science exam, and the start of my weekend. Yesterday had been the most exciting, weirdest day ever. Powers, a bat kid who's a sugar-holic, a team, _Phantom Heart_, a Shadow Tamer, and a destroyed living room; tell me that's not weird yet exciting somehow.

First period, English ran long. I was assigned a mound of homework for spacing out so much in class; I just couldn't get my mind off of yesterday and/ or what today might bring. I started to wonder why I hadn't seen anyone with Levaste before. Were we the only ones at our school, in our area, in our country, in the world?

'_No, don't worry we're not alone' a voice whispered in my head._

'_Huh' _I thought to myself?

'_Don't worry, it's me, Chase' the voice said unreassuringly. _

"How are you doing that?" I accidentally asked out loud.

"So glad you could join the class", my English smirked and grinned out at me.

'_If you gonna say something to me, say it in your mind while we're apart from each other' the supposed Chase said. _

'_Okay, well how are you doing that'_ I asked.

'_Not many people know it, but it's another way bats can communicate with each other; it's called a Neuro-thought link. Bats can read each other's mind' Chase said. _

'_But I'm not a bat'_ I said.

'_I'm half bat half human remember?' Chase chuckled out in his thoughts._

'_Well I've got to get to work before I get in any more trouble…so bye' _I said still in confusion.

Sixth period here I come! Nobody ever understood why I loved sixth period so much. Well to start with Mr. Schneider was the only teacher who was nice and it was my last class of the day!

"Garret, do you care to answer the question", my sixth period teacher asked me?

"No problem", I replied. This was one of the only classes I actually liked to pay attention to. I walked back and sat down in my chair with a note in my pocket. I didn't know how it got there, but whatever. I read the note as I sat down.

_ Please meet me after class, Garret._

_ Sincerely, Mr. Schneider. _

"I… I have to do something out there", I said as I bolted out the class room door with my lame, unexplained unusually stupid excuse.

'_Not again' _I thought to myself.

'_What? What is it?' Chase suddenly said out of nowhere. _

'_I really wish you'd stop doing that, but anyway my teacher said _he_ wanted to talk to me after class' _I thought.

'_What's so bad about that?' Chase asked. _

'_Well my other teacher, Mrs. Claire, said the same thing right before she attacked me' _I thought.

'_Oh, well I've got an idea' Chase said._

'_Oh boy' _I thought forgetting Chase could hear me.

'_I can gather our team and hide and then when your teacher attacks you, we'll jump in and save you' Chase thought out thoughtfully. _

'_That's… that's amazing! So amazing, it just might work!' _I thought congratulating Chase on his amazing plan.

I walked back into the class room calmly as if nothing had happened. I sat there nervously, without words for the rest of the class.

_Ding, Ding, Ding!_

The end of school day bell rang. I waited in class till everyone had left.

'_Come on Team Starlight, pull through for me' _I thought as my teacher approached me. I stood up swiftly. I held out my arm and summoned my sword.

"Don't come any closer", I warned him holding my sword to his throat. His face lit up I surprise as he ran out the door. Then I realized what was really going on.

'_Chase, if you can hear me then you've gotta stop my teacher, Mr. Schneider. And Fast!' _I thought in hope. I ran after my teacher. He wasn't going to kill me or anything; he just wanted to talk about school.

"Mr. Schneider! Comer back!" I yelled out.

"Get away from me!" He said running away frantically. As he opened the door to the alley, he tripped over something, Kao's spear. He picked himself up in a hurry only to run into Chase's wings. Kao on his left, Chase in front of him, and me behind him, he ran head first to his right running into a wall of ice. He lay on the ground unconscious.

* * *

He woke up in a creepy old, deserted house; Team Starlight's base.

"AWWW! Where am I?" Mr. Schneider asked. "Awww, it's you!"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you", I reassured him.

"What do you want from me?" He asked.

"First what did you want from me?" I replied.

"I was just gonna congratulate you on your 100%", He answered with a shaky voice. I could tell he was still scared. I summoned my blade out once more; his body froze, unable to move at the sight of it.

"Is this what made you run", I interrogated him?

"Y…yesss…" he managed.

Kao, Chase, and Alice walked. Alice calmed him down, while we told him about everything from Phantom Heart, to Levaste and Levast, including the inconvenience of my at his throat earlier.

"Are you people crazy?" He yelled as he ran out the door and down the street.

"Just let him go", Kao said. We all agreed.

"So what if he tells on us?" Alice asked.

"Well the only one who could really get caught is Chase", Alice said in a somehow comforting voice.

_Creak! Creak! Creak!_

We all looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't think we're alone", Chase said in a low voice. The ceiling stopped creaking as if someone had heard us. The air around us thinned out in a chill.

_CRASH!_

The ceiling came crashing down. A man lay there picking himself up. He looked up and saw us.

"Yes, finally a fight, I haven't had a fight in so long!" He exclaimed in excitement. He held out his fingers behind him in the shape of a peace sign.

Alice shot a blast of ice at him. He swung his arm, fingers still in peace sign shape, at the ice. The ice turned to water. Kao summoned _Fire Akurei Tsume;_ Kao shot a whirling blast of fire at the man, while Chase took flight in the small area and charged the man. The man held out his hand and the fire died down. He held out his of hand still in the sign of a peace symbol and flew it in front of him; Chase fell to the ground as if the wind was taken beneath his wings. I charged with my sword. As approached him, a hurling wind tossed me back.

"Who are you and waddya want?" Kao shouted.

"That's none of your concern!" The man shouted back.

"Then I'll make it mine!" Kao yelled jabbing his flame flickering spear at the man rapidly.

"And mine", Alice add.

"Me too!" Chase exclaimed.

"For Team Starlight!" I burst out in agreement. Everyone agreed with me.

"You're _Team Starlight_?" He asked.

"That's none of your concern!" I yelled slashing violently at him with my sword of silver. Alice spewed out a continuous beam of ice out of the palm of her hands and Chase tried to charge. None of our attacks were hitting. Finally the man let out a giant burst of rushing air, shooting us all across the house.

"I heard you guys were supposed to be strong. You can't even hit me. Not to mention you're no match for my power anyway, but don't worry I'll be back", the strange man said walking out of the house calmly.

"Get back here; I'm not done with you", Kao yelled. The man shot a funnel of wind, shooting Kao across the room.

"Wind", I said.

"Try Oxygen", the strange man replied. I charged him. He shot blasts of air at me; I leaped over and under them; I maneuvered my way through his torrents of air. "Not half bad, but not good enough."

"You're gonna eat your words", I yelled. I slashed; my stopped in front of his face. I tried to force it down but it wouldn't budge; I could feel pressure on the other side of my sword as I pressed it harder.

"You can't beat me", he tried to persuade me.

Chase tried to attack from his left and Alice relocated to continue her ice beam. Chase lunged his gauntlets forward, but the air around the man's body wouldn't let his gauntlets penetrate through. Alice's ice beam continued to turn to water as it hit the man's shield of air around him. We were all attacking, but not of us could get through.

"Awww!" Kao screamed in happiness as _Fire Akurei Tsume _pierced the back of the man. His spear tried to flicker out a flame into the man's body, but was knocked out of Kao's hand as the man did his oxygen burst. All our ground and efforts to hit the man were lost.

Suddenly the man's face shrieked a change of facial expression. He tried to move, but he couldn't. As everyone looked down they realized what was going on. Alice hand was barely gripped onto the man's ankle, but it was just a strong enough to ignite her ice upon the man's body. Ice piled up upon itself, thickening itself around the man's body even more.

"What is this!" The man bellowed out in rage.

"It's _Team Starlight_", Alice grinned in the man's face as Kao took the side of his spear across the man's face.

"You can't stop me forever, you know. I'll be out of this in a matter minutes", he said in anger.

"Try", I tempted him. The ice started melt.

"I'm slowly but surely, deplenishing the oxygen molecules in the frozen water as we speak", the man boasted out.

"Alice, you wanna help him out there", Chase chuckled. Alice grabbed ahold of the man and ice rebuilt on him.

"Who are you, _Phantom Heart_?" I asked. He looked away denying us a response; that is until Chase took the side of his fist across the man's face. If he'd gone straight forward he would've stabbed him.

"You can't defeat _Phantom Heart_, we have the power to eliminate you…you right now….right where you…stand", the man managed out as he coughed up blood.

"He's _Phantom Heart _so we have to kill him, right?" Kao asked the team.

"No", I said with a grin, "We have to give them a warning and a message that we're coming after them. We'll make an example of him."

"Nothing too harsh, okay?" Alice asked me.

The next thing the man probably remembered was waking up in a different town on a bus with his head spinning and beating harshly. He probably felt like crap, speaking from the fact that he'd recently got beat. Blood drizzled down his face from his broken, dismantled nose.

* * *

"Hey, what is that?" Alice said the next day as we approached our base.

'_Huh' we all thought._

A note nailed to the door of our new base, which needed a lot of repairs from yesterday's fight. The note read…

_ I'll be back, I promise…_


	6. Gang Elastic

Well my weekend was off to a good start; our base was destroyed, we freaked out one of my teachers, and we've been added to Phantom Hearts hit list… so far so good. Morning, one of the most hated things by teenagers, came quickly. Today we were _supposed_ to work and repair the house, both. Our base needed to be remodeled anyway, at least that's what Alice said; we boys were completely fine with the way it was before it got wrecked. Alice, Kao, and Chase were staying there since they had nowhere to stay.

There were a couple weeks of school left. Kao and Alice missed school yesterday or ditched, but Alice didn't like it when anyone used that word for some reason. She said it was cause she felt guilty, even though she kinda couldn't go back after what happened; I mean if she got involved in the whole thing with the government and the police and everything, we wouldn't be a team cause they'd probably lock her and her brother up in Juvy and then prison for the rest of their lives. Chase didn't go to school, cause if he got caught he'd be picked up and kidnapped or batnapped and then be used as a government experiment. Not to mention he can't necessarily hide his wings or anything; I mean they're always there.

"So what do we do from here on out, just let Phantom Heart grunts come and attack us?" I asked in boredom, since everyone loves rebuilding a broken down house.

"What happens once we rid of those jerks?" Chase added.

"And we're gonna have to get you guys clothes, cause you can't where those all the time", I said? Kao and Alice continued as if they were ignoring us.

"I can get us new clothes", Kao said reassuringly.

"And we'll hunt Phantom Heart down", Alice said.

"How are we supposed to find them?" I asked.

"They'll find us", Alice said with no facial expression and in a monotone low voice.

"Are you guys alright", Chase asked in concern?

"Does it look like we're alright? I just started a team to take an extremely powerful group of personal, I recently got taken over by L.E.O., we've been attacked several times already, our base is destroyed, bat boy over here's addicted to sugar, Kao can't concentrate for more than a minute without getting distracted by some stupid penny, you just… Awwww", Alice screamed out, "and my parents and my aunt and uncle… and are you satisfied?" She started to cry.

"Hey calm down, we're not just here to fight alongside you. We're a team, we fight for each other, we comfort each other, rejoice with each other, mourn with each other, we're there for each other." The words sailed out of my mouth smoothly.

"Sorry about that and thanks", Alice said wiping the tears away from her eyes, as she calmed herself down.

"Phantom Heart obviously has a way of finding us; so someone or something is guiding them to us or they have a tracking beacon on us", Alice said.

"And we would've found the beacon by now if there was one", Kao said encouragingly.

"Anyone want ice cream?" Chase asked.

* * *

Ice cream always cheered everyone up, but not in the way like a sucker could. We ate our ice cream quietly, since everyone was more interested in the ice cream than each other at the time. It wasn't long before everyone finished theirs.

"Hey Garret are you alright. You don't look too good", Kao said as we were leaving the ice cream shop.

Without a chance to answer, I fell to my hands and knees. My vision went blurry, for a second. I heard a voice; I looked around anxiously to find where it was coming from. I looked up and picked myself up as I did it.

'_What?' _I thought at the weird yet somehow comforting image. It was my grandfather. My vision had cleared up now. Kao, Alice, and Chase were gone.

'_Garret, listen up. I don't have much time; do you still have the necklace I gave you?' The ghost of grandpa asked. _

"Ugh, ya." I wasn't completely sure how to answer the ghost of a dead man.

'_Good, whatever it takes, at all cost do not let Phantom Heart get their hands on it and Garret, trust your Levaste and God. They'll show you the way", grandpa said in a rush. For a dead man, he was in a really big hurry. _

"Wait, Grandpa, WAIT!" I yelled in hope of a chance to talk some more. But no such luck; he was gone. I hadn't quite understood what had just happened, but all I could do was make the best of it.

"Garret, get up! We don't have time for this! Get up!" A voice summoned me out of wherever I was. I tried to find my way back into reality, but mind kept blacking out. I couldn't move my body.

"Come on Garret, please get up", the voice of a girl spoke into my paralyzing darkness. The girls voice was comforting; Alice. Her voice was slowly, but surely bringing me back into reality.

* * *

"Huh, what's going on", I asked as I sat up quickly. The blood swished through my body rapidly, as I became dizzy. I regained my vision and control of my body. I was in an alley, lying on the floor.

"What's going on and where are we", I asked again regaining my consciousness completely now.

"We're on 32nd street in the alley and these thugs are beating the crap out of some person. We tried to help but we're WAY out numbered and then back at the ice cream parlor you decided to faint on us!" Alice informed me.

"Ya sorry about that I had something umm… important to do", I said randomly making up an excuse, "and the three of you guys couldn't handle it?"

"Well excuse me, princess. Would you like to handle it", Alice said in sarcastic yet serious tone?

I walked around the corner to see Kao and Chase lying on the floor getting kicked along with some other kid.

"Kao! Chase! Hey leave my friends alone", I said as Alice hid behind the corner. I didn't understand why she was hiding, because I mean she'd been fighting the whole time; why would she chicken out now. My answer was soon to come.

"What do we have here?" A man asked as his gang started circle around me. I counted 20 but more kept coming. I summoned out my sword; it shined and glistened in the sun light.

"You should coward down now and be a good boy like your friends", another man said in a creepy almost convincing voice. Kao and Chase were knocked out and beat on the ground.

"Get away from me", I demanded.

"Or what? You gonna kill us with your sword?" Someone else chuckled out.

"I just might!" I grinned out of my teeth.

"I'm warning you boy; don't mess with us. You don't want to mess with G.E.", a man whom I assume was their leader. I'd seen the letters G.E. spray painted all over town before. "We're Gang Elastic."

"What a pathetic name", I laughed out so hard I started to cry.

"Well our name can be… stretched!" the first man said as his arm extended out 20 feet just to hit my jaw. I tumbled, but got back up.

"Is that all you got?" I taunted them as 20 other fist stretched out to punch me. I swung my sword several times deflecting them.

I ran to the nearest one and lashed my sword down on his arm; my sword bounced off. He stood there smiling. I tried to stab him, but my sword bounced off again.

"You can't hit us", their leader laughed out, "You should really choose wisely before you pick a fight beyond your level."

"You guys are made of rubber." I concluded.

'_Chase can you hear me?' _I thought.

'_Barely' he responded._

'_Good, tell Kao to get up. We can't do this without him'_ I said.

'_What about me?" Chased whined in his thoughts._

'_Just find a way to get Kao back up'_ I said.

"Well aren't you a bright cookie", someone in the crowd said. The crowd started to gang up on me. Fists were driven all over my body rapidly. Feet were kicking my body. I tried to swing my sword, but I couldn't find the strength.

Finally I managed the strength to get up and run; I ran like there was no tomorrow.

"Alice!" I yelled out repeatedly. The gang was hot on my tail.

"What", her voice said from behind a stack of broken pallets?

"I need you help; we need your help", I said frantically stringing my words together, which were barely understandable. I whispered my plan into her ear. She smiled and agreed.

"There you are", a gang member yelled. I stood there with a grin on my face as they charged at. As they ran towards me suddenly, they started to slow down. Thinking with their, completely moronic gang mentality, they didn't even notice the tiny ice crystals developing on their bodies.

Suddenly they couldn't move at all. They tried to yell out but they couldn't move at all. I summoned out my sword once more and shattered their bodies. The noise of their solidified bodies pierced the eerie air around us. Alice and I ran back to take care of the rest.

As we came around the corner, there stood Kao running a constant flame around their bodies. They couldn't either. Their bodies were hardened, but not in the same way as the other had that Alice and I had taken care of. The ones that Alice and I took care of were turned to like glass, while these ones were solidified to like stone. It would take a while for them to unsolidify, not to mention virtually impossible.

There was one rubbery hide left to handle.


	7. Gerard's Daughter

"Just let the boy go!" I demanded to the man. He wasn't too tall. He was cleaned shaved and had some decently new clothes. He wore a nice watch. I didn't understand why a man with such class would be in a gang or lead a gang for that much. Then it hit me, he was thief, which gave me more insensate to want to fight him.

"Would you just let a thief walk away, if it was within your power to stop him", the man asked in a strange tone? His body suddenly started to buffen and enlarge itself. He was growing larger and larger. By the time I realized, he was now really big and buff. He was enormous! Normally I would've been scared, but I had a reason to fight; Alice, Kao, and Chase.

"You're the thief here, freak", Chase said tending to his wounds momentarily! His wing was mangled, so he wouldn't be flying anytime soon and his body was all bruised up. His gauntlets were lying on the side of the alley, crushed; he'd been stripped of them in the fight.

"That's why you don't get involved in problems that aren't yours! He's the thief!" The man said angrily as he walked towards us. His large presence had a sense that pressured us backwards to the wall.

"What'd he steal?" Alice intervened. She hadn't really been the fight too much, but she looked pretty beat up herself. She had a cut on her left eyebrow, which made me assume that someone had hit her.

"This", the man said slipping a flash drive out of his pocket. Whatever was on it must have been important enough the kid to risk his life. "What's on it is none of your concern."

"Well you got you your flash drive back now let him go!" Kao said sharply.

"Well, you see I can't do that. I need to teach him a lesson; one he'll never forget", the large man grinned out of his jagged looking teeth.

"Well you'll have to get through us first", Team Starlight said in unison!

"Suit yourselves", he chuckled out as he started to run at us. We all wanted to run so badly, but we had to face him. If we couldn't face him, how could we face Phantom Heart?

He came at us with his fist cocked and ready to slam into one of our faces. We all dove aside, avoiding him. We were all tired and didn't have too much energy left.

"Alice take the boy and leave!" I yelled.

"I'm not going anywhere. You guys can't do this alone", she yelled back at me. The boy was unconscious and was already injured pretty bad; I don't think he could take much more. I didn't argue with her because she was right, we did need all the help we could get.

As he turned around to charge back at us something stopped him. All of our eyes lowered our focus from him to a little girl standing directly in front of him.

"Daddy, will you read me a story", the man's daughter asked so nicely.

"Honey, go inside daddy will be there in a moment. Just let him take care of business, okay", he told his daughter?

"Okay, daddy", she said in a sad agreement. "Wait daddy, who's that?" She said pointing up.

We all looked up. There stood a man on top of the roof, now sliding down a ladder.

"Times up", the new man said. He had a red eye and a white one and I mean a pure red eye and a pure white eye. It was the man who'd attacked several times already in my past. "And I hear you've been looking for me."

"We're looking for Phantom Heart." Team Starlight snapped all at once.

"Well until you get through me, _I AM PHANTOM HEART!_" He snared with a smirk at us.

"This is my fight! Leave now!" The rubbery large expanded man said.

"Not any more. Now step aside pathetic child", the Phantom Heart grunt said shoving the expanded man's daughter to the ground. She started to cry and wail frantically; she had a large gash on her arm and leg, where she had fallen.

"That's my daughter, you Moron!" The expanded man yelled in pain as if he could feel his daughter's pain.

"You can't do this alone!" Alice yelled to the man as we teamed up to fight my childhood attacker.

"Gerard, you don't want to do this", the Phantom Heart grunt said.

"Oh yes I do! FOR MY DAUGHTER!" Gerard, the expandable man, cheered and yelled.

We all surrounded him, five on one. This should have been a breeze. Gerard charged him, Kao jabbed his spear at him with all the power he had left, Alice froze the floor and then shot icicles at him, Chase threw nearby garbage pieces at him, and I slashed my sword at him like a mad man. The man walked of the way of our attacks. He came back and drop kicked all of us.

"He's so fast!" Alice shrieked. Her ice hadn't even phased him; actually we were slipping on it more than anything. He grabbed Alice and threw her to the other side of the alley.

"You can't hit me; I slow down time! I'm INVINCIBLE!" he boasted proudly, "I've finally developed my true power."

"Spread out", Kao said.

"That won't help you", he said. We all spread out anyway. He still attacked s all and we couldn't do a thing. We were getting beat to pulp in a matter of minutes. Then I noticed something, as he attacked one of us, the rest of us were free to move.

"Alice, Kao get on separate roofs. Chase, Gerard, and I will distract him", I yelled. The three of us on the ground spread out into a triangle. Whenever the Phantom Heart grunt would come at us we would run from him.

"Okay, ready", Kao yelled.

"Almost", Alice said climbing up the ladder still.

"Hurry we can't stop him forever", I said back, "His slowing down time technique only works within a range. Do a long range attack of some sort!" They nodded in agreement as they now understood my plan.

Alice shot an ice beam, while Kao summoned _Fire Akurei Tsume _whirled a beam of fire at the Phantom Heart grunt.

"Your little plan won't work….. Awwww!" He said as Alice and Kao's opposing beams hit the man. Gerard tackled the man and started to unleash his fiery of fist on the man face. Chase took a stick and was whacking his legs. I slashed at his arm as he blocked with his arm; the sword sank in, but it didn't seem to bother him. His blood trickled down his arm into his hand.

He squirmed his way loose of our grips and attacks. He ran towards the boy.

"Hey leave him alone", Alice yelled as she set foot on the ground, climbing down from the ladder and watched the man approach the teenage kid. He grabbed the teenage kid by his left arm. The kid suddenly regained consciousness.

The kid swung his right arm, driving it into the man's face giving him a bloody nose. The kid's left arm appeared to be broken, but he showed no sign of pain.

"Let me go", he said clenching his fingers on a nearby pipe which ran up the wall.

"Hang on!" I yelled as I stretched out my hand and forced the pipe to bend on my will. The pipe curled around the kids arm, holding him back from being taken by the Phantom Heart creep. The man ran leaving the fight.

Suddenly we all heard a scream; Gerard's daughter! We ran back around the corner to see the Phantom Heart grunt lying on the floor unconscious. Gerard's daughter stood there smiling, as her arm compacted back to normal from the stretched out punched she'd obviously given to the Phantom Heart creep.

"_That's my girl!"_


	8. Love That Burns

We all stood there in amazement. The five of us couldn't defeat him, yet a little girl, no older than 4, knocked him out with one punch. He never even saw it coming. That's the power of surprise I guess. The boy was still struggling, trying to free himself of the pipe wrapped around his arm. I ran over to him and released the metal from around his arm.

"Wait", I yelled as he started to run off! He was stopped by Gerard's arm.

"Hey, leave him alone", Alice snapped at Gerard.

"I appreciate the help, but this matter is no concern of yours, now leave." He said sternly.

"No, it is our concern", Chase screeched out holding one of his wings.

"What is on that flash drive anyway?" Kao interrogated.

"None of your business", Gerard barked.

"A design for a robotic molecular infrastructural body of armor; it molecularly combines with one's body and enhances it to heights of strength unknown to mankind", the kid said fixing his cracked glasses into shape.

"And why do you want it?" Alice added.

He looked down at his broken arm. "I've got no feeling in my left arm and I can't control it; if I could just get the arm structure… I'd regain my arm and control over it."

"That's it?" Gerard question quietly.

"Uh, yeah", the kid mumbled out.

"Fine, stay right here. I'll be right back", Gerard said as he ran into his house in the alley. He came out with a torn piece of paper in his hand.

"Take it and get out of here", Gerard said handing the piece of paper to the kid.

"Uhh, thanks", the boy yelled out in excitement. He ran off in a hurry.

"Wait, what's your name", Alice asked?

"Ben", the teenage boy said. He suddenly looked tall, lanky and a bit more mature than he had a few minutes ago. I forced myself into thinking my mind was playing tricks on me.

It was getting late again, just like it does every night around this time. We all split; the rest of Team Starlight went back to the base or their house, while I went home.

* * *

As I got home, my heart nearly sank as deep as Alice's had when she'd discovered her devastating truth.

I immediately ran inside my burning house. I could barely find my way through the smoke filled air to the front door. As I opened the front door, an enormous blast of fire hurled out. I flew onto the front lawn, landing flat on my back. I rubbed the burns on my arms and chest momentarily.

"MOM! DAD!" I screamed frantically. Regaining my balance and breath, I ran back to the door. I entered the house with caution. Boards fell down from the second floor, igniting the first floor even more in flames.

My lungs were filled with the smoke I'd been trying not to inhale as I heaved for breath; first floor clear. I continued to yell for my parents. As I approached the kitchen, I saw a man make his way for the nearest window. On his way he dropped a blood stained, stainless steel kitchen knife. Before he could finish his mission with a clean get away, he was leveled… by me. I flipped him over to realize only that I'd brought this upon my family.

The man, the one we'd fought and beat up the other day, had come back for revenge like he promised. I heard something behind me. I turned around swiftly to see my mother stagger forward with her hand over her stomach; she started coughing up blood. I looked at the man once, elbowed him in the face and then ran over to my mother's side. The man waved his hand, spewing oxygen and some other kind of gas, igniting the flames around my mom and I. I shielded us with my necklace.

"Mom, it's going to be okay. Now where's dad", I asked in a hurry? I quickly grabbed the nearest phone, dialed 911 and handed the phone to my mom hoping they'd trace the call and send help.

"Dad, where are you?" I yelled. I climbed up the broken, burning stairs with immaculate speed; I didn't know I could move so fast. I searched for my dad under all the piles of rubble; nothing, no one. I searched everywhere, but I couldn't seem to find him. Then I heard a loud noise, which pierced my ears. I clasped my hands over my ears trying to rid the noise. I crawled to the window to find my dad lying next to the man, who'd done all this. The noise stopped.

I ran outside to my dad. He was bleeding badly, losing life by the moment.

"That girl, protect her", my dad groaned out in pain talking about Alice.

"Of course, but do know that it's we're… we're just friends", I explained in a speedy manner to my dad. My dad gripped my hand tightly.

"I'm not talking like that. Her L.E.O. …. It's… it's… awww, I can't remember for the life of me", my father said making a pun, "I can't tell you right now, but remember I love you and protect that girl at all cost." My dad's grip on my hand loosened as his eyes rolled shut and his breath was stolen away by God.

He died a noble death, or so I think; he died getting revenge for his family. A tear trickled down my cheek; then another and another. Was it wrong that one of his last moments alive was one of murder, or revenge? Thoughts pondered through my head. Sorrow filled my heart. I wanted to sit there my dad and mourn but there wasn't time. I ran back inside to my mother.

She'd managed to get a cloth and wrap it around her stab wound. Sirens wailed in the background as the proceeded their way to us. My mom tried to get up and find my dad, but sat down next to her pulled her back down gently. Tears rolled down both of our faces; both hers and mine looked as though our faces had been glazed at a Krispy Kreme glazing factory. My mom smiled, turned, and hugged me.

The fire in and on the house had already almost put itself out somehow, by the time the police and the fire department made it. They tried to help us up and treat our burns, but my mom yelled at them for interfering with our hug. To her a hug meant that you loved that person so much you were willing to die for them; whether they deserved it or not.

* * *

'_Protect that necklace at all cost'- Grandpa._

'_Protect that girl at all cost'- Dad._

I didn't quite understand everything, but I figured Alice and my silver beaded necklace were obviously somehow connected. What is it my grandpa and my dad knew that I don't? They say wisdom and knowledge is passed on though family; I guess I got skipped.


	9. Cocoons of Death

_The next morning…_

I sat in the chair in the hospital next to my mom's hospital bed. She passed out shortly after our hug from the pain of her stab wound. I'd been there all night with her. I didn't know what to do form here on out. I was scared. I sat up straight in my chair ready to summon my sword every time I heard my mom's hospital door open.

"Garret!" Alice yelled. Chase and Kao tagged along behind her. The scar across my eye, from when I was young, showed intricately. I wore my Necklace, a brand new pair of Etnies shoes, a dark gray zipper sweatshirt with blue and black design of all sorts on it, and a gray t- shirt on under my sweatshirt. My eyes were blood shot from staying up all night with my mom. The burns on my body were still there; a few on my face. My body was tense.

"Garret, are you alright", Alice and Chase asked together? They all had a new pair of clothes, or at least they were new to them. Kao came through for them.

"Ya I'm fine. My house just got burned down; my friends are hurt, my dad's dead, and my mom's in a hospital; and it's my entire fault." I grumbled. Vengeance was growing in my heart. Hate stirred deeper and deeper into my soul for Phantom Heart. Every time I looked at my mom, I told myself I'd kill Phantom Heart with my bare hands.

"Hey chill, that's why we're here, remember", Kao said kindly flipping a shiny penny through the air, while Chase shoveled a few packets of sugar into his mouth. I needed to know how Alice and my necklace were connected.

"I need to get to Phantom Heart", I demanded.

"Don't let anger and rage get in your way; they'll only hinder you", Chase reassured me.

"I'm not, I just have a score to settle", I said changing my tone of voice to a pleasant one.

"Don't let revenge cloud your judgment. If anyone has the right to revenge, it should be me", Alice yelled at me controlling herself. A tear of anger rolled down her cheek; I couldn't tell if she was mad at me or Phantom Heart. "You have no right to revenge! It's either mine or no ones."

"Alice!" Kao snapped.

"I'm sorry", Alice said convincingly, "Look, Garret, if we want to take out Phantom Heart then we've got to stick together."

"_Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. _But what about 5 strands?" Kao asked me. Normally I wouldn't have listened to him, but he seemed a bit mature at the time.

"K, I'm sorry too." I said. My temper was cooled, but revenge still brewed in the depths of my heart. I had to control or it would control me. "Alice, put this on."

"Why", Alice questioned.

"Just do it", I said sternly as if I were in a hurry.

"Umm, okay", She said in confusion.

She grabbed the necklace from my hand and stared at it for a moment, then put it on. We all stood there waiting for something eventful to happen. She stared up at me as nothing happened. We all waited quietly for a few more seconds for whatever we were expecting to happen, but nothing happened.

"What is this all about", Kao asked?

"Never mind, I said as Alice handed my necklace back to me. I was hoping something would happen that would help lead us to Phantom Heart, but no such luck.

"Oh Garret, this was on the kitchen counter at the base. I don't know how it got there, but ya", Chase said handing me a sucker with a note attached. I plopped the sucker into my mouth right away, quicker than Chase could pour a pack of sugar into his a mouth and Kao could find a shiny object, then I read the note. The only thing was it wasn't a note, it was a picture; a picture of my grandpa and me at the lake, Lake Silver Shores.

"Hey has anyone ever been to Lake Silver Shores?"

* * *

The fresh air and aroma of Silver Shores drifted into our noses. The smell of the air itself was quenching to the body itself. It refilled our strength. The lake glistened in the distance, shining with its sliver tint. Trees surrounded the lake as if they were guarding it; birds soared its fresh air all day.

"I love the smell of fresh air", Alice said hanging her head out the window as a breeze blew her hair in the wind.

"I do too", Chase and Kao said. Kao hung his head outside the window also just to say he'd done it before. Chase sat there bored, complaining about how his wings were getting cramps.

"Hey, thanks Chris for driving us here", I said in a good mood. I tried not to think about last night. Driving to the lake reminded me of old times, like when my grandpa took me here for the first time and showed me this cool hidden cave. He knew lots of cool places here; he said it was because he'd grown up here.

"No problem, anytime. So is 8 O' Clock good?" Chris, a friend of mine who drove us to the lake, said as he pulled to the side of the road. The lake was only about 20 yards away from where he pulled over.

"Yep, bye thanks", Alice said. The car peeled a sharp U-turn and sped away.

"So what exactly are we doing here", Chase asked stretching out his cramped wings?

"I don't really know", I answered hoping to get some smart response from someone. No one said anything. "Doesn't anyone care that I just said I had no plan?"

"Nope, we're used to it", Kao smirked backfiring my own sarcastic prank on me. Alice and Chase laughed along. I glared back at the group.

We walked for what seemed like hours, which was. I'd found nothing which would lead me to anything. I continued to walk; Chase tried to fly, but his wing was still hurt. His gauntlets were gone; so now he was just kind of an ordinary kid, I mean he couldn't fly and he had no weapon; that sounds ordinary right?

"It's seven thirty, we should start heading back. We'll never make it back by 8 O' Clock", Alice insisted.

"Let's just keep going", I pleaded.

"Alice is right, it's getting dark", Chase agreed.

"Well you guys can leave, I know something's out here", I said.

"Yeah, a pack of wolves ready to devour us", Kao said.

"You've got powers and you're scared?" I chuckled out.

"No, I just agree with my sister", Kao tried to cover up his words which he fumbled.

"Fine 10 more minutes", Alice said.

I thought quietly to myself as ten minutes approached, I needed to buy some more time; and then came up with an idea since I needed more time.

"Hey wait up!" I randomly yelled chasing something/ someone/ my imagination.

"Slow down Garret", Alice, Kao, and Chase said running after me. I ran for about ten minutes before I ran out of breath. Alice, Kao, and Chase finally caught up to me.

"What was it, Garret?" they all asked together.

"Ughh, a man… yeah a man", I said suddenly making up an excuse.

"You ran through the dark woods after bigfoot?" Alice questioned rhetorically in annoyance of my little move.

"YOU SAW BIGFOOT!" Chase yelled in surprise.

"BIGFOOT! WHERE!" Kao asked. Alice and I stared at them shaking our heads.

"Now we're lost in the middle of the dark in the woods, smooth Garret; smooth", Alice snapped at me.

"There's something out here I need to do; I just know it. Trust me", I said.

Suddenly Alice fell flat on her face; something clung to her ankles and drug her away. All that was left were trails of here nail marks on the ground, her scream carried away into the distance quickly. We three boys took off towards Alice. Suddenly we looked back and Chase was gone, his voice grew faint as he grew farther apart from us. Chase was drug the complete opposite direction.

"I'll get bat boy, you get Alice", Kao randomly planned out.

"Watch yourself and your feet", I said running in Alice's direction.

* * *

"Alice!" I yelled out. I followed the claw marks on the ground, but they suddenly came to a stop; the trail ended. I looked up as vines whipped down at me; I rolled out of the way summoning my sword. I sword drizzled down my arm into my sword. Vines crept the ground and grew towards me. I weed wacked as many of the vines as I could.

* * *

"Chase!" Kao yelled in search for him. The vines burst from the ground and wrapped their way around Kao. Kao struggled to free his self, but no luck.

"The more you struggle, the more they strangle", the voice of a woman said from the haunted woods. Kao found it to be true, as he continued to struggle. The vines formed into a cocoon around Kao.

* * *

"NO! I'VE GOT TO SAVE ALICE!" I said as I gulped in air as I became cocooned in vines.


	10. Six Trials

The vines engulfed. Images flashed through my head; Alice, my mom, Kao, Chase, my fights with Team Starlight, and my father's death. I struggled, but the vines just seemed to tighten their grip on me. I could hear Alice's faint scream, being muffled by vines. I tried to summon my sword, but I dropped it as I was being cocooned to try to release the vine from my neck; wasn't my best idea.

* * *

Kao's cocoon stopped at his head; giving him air and sight. He stared at the woman who'd just spoken to him. She walked towards him in an appealing manner. Kao closed his eyes tightly, as she continued her way to him. Vines curled around her fingers, into her hand forming a vine whip; it was covered in thorns up and down.

"Wha…what do you want?" Kao muttered out bravely, still closing his eyes.

"Nothing with you", she said in sweet raspy voice. Her hair was red crimson and she had a sleek dark green, floor length dress on. She walked away from Kao heading into the woods in our direction.

"Get back here; I'm not done with you!" Kao yelled, "You capture me and then just leave me. What kind of person does that? Come back and fight!" The woman walked back and cracked her whip against Kao's face; it was at that moment Kao realized what he'd said forgetting he was bound. Blood dripped down Kao's face.

"Respect your elders, child", she said tightening his cocoon.

* * *

I was wiggling and struggling and the vines rapidly tightened on me; I could feel my pulse travel through my entire body, my circulation being cut off.

"Awe, there you are", I heard a woman say as I also heard vines from another cocoon loosen and release. I heard something drop to the ground with a thud; Alice.

* * *

"Chase!" Kao yelled opening his eyes, "Don't struggle. Just give me a minute, I have an idea."

"Mhhmhmhhhmmhm (That's never good)", Chase tried to mumble. He regrettably listened to Kao finding it true.

"_Fire Akurei Tsume_", Kao yelled! His spear plunged from the sky, landing directly in front of Kao. Kao stared at his staff, then he glared, and finally he sighed. "Okay, that didn't go as planned." He was trying to make it cut through his cocoon, but no such luck.

"AWE, screw it!" Kao yelled igniting his hands on fire. His cocoon dissolved away in a moment; it just so happened that in that same moment the fire had ignited onto several trees. "Chase!"

"Mhmmmhhm (I'm over here)", Chase tried to mumble.

"Hang on (like he has a choice)", Kao said disintegrating Chase's cocoon. Chase Gasped for air, then he felt his wing as he landed on the ground.

"Hey it's healed!" Chase proclaimed in amazement.

"What?" Kao asked.

"My wing is healed", Chase said as he took flight. The fire was spreading quickly. "Yeah, I'm not ordinary anymore!" Kao and Chase swapped blank stares.

"You were never ordinary; what kid eats 50 packets of sugar a day?" Kao remarked. The fire was spreading quickly. Cinder and ashes were floating in the air, penetrating the fresh scent of the lake. "Let's go; you find Garret and I'll find Alice."

* * *

"Thank you so much for your help, but I think I'll take over from here", a man's spoke out.

"What are you doing here; this is my kill, so leave or I'll kill you", the woman's growled angrily.

"I beg to differ", the man chuckled out. I summoned my sword; it came flying up splitting open my cocoon. I gasped for air, grasping my sword. "This is my kill." The man said smiling.

"Don't tempt me, Splinter", the woman with red crimson hair said.

"Is that a challenge", the man, who apparently was Splinter asked?

The woman strung out her vine whips and charged Splinter. As she charged, she suddenly dropped to the floor with little strength left in her. Her body coated itself in blood. I stared in awe. Splinter suddenly turned to my direction and then to Alice's. He picked her up and started to walk away, like I would be a waste of his time; Alice was unconscious.

I ran to the woman who now lay on the floor of the woods; she was dead. I didn't understand how she'd died, so suddenly. I immediately got up and ran after Alice. I ran and ran until I caught up. I still had my sword out.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll turn around and walk the other way", Splinter said.

"If _you_ know what's good for _you_, you'll hand Alice over to us", I challenged him.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into here, last chance; leave, now!" Splinter yelled calmly.

"Over your dead body", I yelled.

"Suit yourself", he said setting Alice down against a tree. The fire was still going, but it hadn't made its way to this part of the woods. He held out his arms, putting his body in the shape of a cross and yelled, "_SILVER SPLINTER_." I charged, raising my sword. Suddenly I was swooped up by something. As I looked I saw tiny, little silver splinters pierce their way through the air where I was standing. I looked up to see who my rescuer was; it was Chase.

"Chase!" I said in surprise.

"Yep, that's me! Now let's go get Alice back!" He said swooping back down.

"So you weren't joking when you said us. Well more for me to kill", Splinter said out of his grin as Chase set me down and landed. I quiver of silver splinters soared my way; I formed my sword into a shield blocking them. I ran to Splinter as fast I could manage to move my legs. As I approached him, I leaped into the air and slashed my sword down; but as it hit him, it formed around his body. He shot fleet of silver slivers on me; they carried me too a tree, slamming me against it, and bent around my body. My body ached.

"Is that all you got?" I yelled in anger as I slashed at him again, but once more my sword bent around him; leaving him unharmed. He grinned as he shoved his fist into my gut. I fell to my knees holding, my gut.

"You're not the only one with control over silver", Splinter said as he kicked me, or tried. As he went to kick me, I quickly got up and tackled him. I brought down my fist and elbow on his face repeatedly, until he shoved me off with a force of silver slivers. None of them pierced my body.

"Give up kid, you can't beat me. Your powers are useless against me and you can't win in a fist fight", He persuaded me.

"Fine, you win", I smiled and chuckled out. The fire was creeping its way across the woods, nearing us. Flames grew closer and closer, so close they started to lick and singe our clothes and faces. We started to circle each other.

"So is this your little plan? Sit here till we both get burnt to death? Well I'm tired of waiting; I have a mission to complete and I'm not about to let _Syulee_ down", Splinter yelled as he charged at me!

"And I'm tired of waiting too!" Kao yelled back shoving a fist of fire into Splinters jaw as he jumped down from a tree. Splinter wobbled his way to the ground. Splinter got up and sent a fleet of silver splinters at Kao. I ran in front Kao and commanded them to stop with one swift movement of my hand. At that Kao ran around me. He summoned a great force of fire into his hand and Fire Blasted splinter. The flames around us, burning the woods down, flowed into Kao's beam of fire. The fire, burning the woods, was completely gone.

Splinter lay there, burnt and beat, but he still managed to get up. His burns were harsh and he had deep wounds, from what? I don't know, but he was. Blood rushed down out of his wounds, as he moved slowly towards us. I wanted to stab him with my sword, but I couldn't and there was no need at this point.

"What's going on", Alice asked as she saw Splinter fall to the ground in front of her? Kao ran to her and gave her a giant bear hug. It was like my mother says all the time; a hug can tell a lot about how much a person loves you.

"6 Assassins were hired to capture Alice; two of which are already defeated. Remi and I are the least of the 2. Good work kid, nice team you got there", Splinter groaned out to me. I turned and gave Alice a smile of gratitude since she'd really set up the team.

"2 down, 4 to go; bring it!" Kao yelled in happiness over his victory.

Suddenly my sword jumped in the air out of my hand, shifted back into a necklace, and hovered away into the woods. Morning was approaching right on time as it did every morning. I ran after my sword and apparently no one else saw it because they ran after me yelling, "Now what?"

As I chased it, we neared a house. It was creepy, yet somehow familiar. My necklace dropped on the floor, right in front of the house. I grabbed my necklace and put it on my neck. I looked up to see a silhouette of my grandfather, he was mouthing words but I couldn't read or understand them. Finally I caught a break, and understood these simple words as my grandfather's silhouette faded away…

_Six Trials._


	11. Alice's Fight

"Six trials?" Alice said. Kao and chase had just caught up.

"You heard that", I asked?

"Of course I did", Alice replied staring at me with a strange look like I was crazy. We all had impressions on our body from the grip of the vines. All of our clothes were dirty and worn out by now.

"Heard what?" Chase and Kao asked.

"Nothing, let's go", I said walking to the front door of the house. Everyone, including myself, was waiting for someone or something to jump out and scare me. I hesitated turning the door knob as I grasped it. A chill ran up my spine.

_TWIST…_

As I pulled the door open slowly a white streak blurred past us and attacked Chase. The next thing we heard was Chase running around in circles screaming ," GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!" When we finally pried the white beast's claws off of Chase's face, we read the name tag of the ferocious white kitten; _Fluffy._

I flung open the door preparing myself for the worst, but nothing happened. We all walked inside in awe.

"Wow."

"Where are we?"

"SO SHINY!"

Inside the creepy old house was amazing. Lights lit up the room brightly. The walls were painted pure white. A flight of stairs carried into an endless spiral upward; it looked as though the ceiling never ended. The hand rails of gold reflected the light. Two chairs and a table were placed in the middle of the room; that was the only thing in the room. The room was huge, bigger than it should've been. The inside of the house was larger than the outside.

"SHINY!" Kao yelled running for the golden hand rail.

"Kao, don't just take off. Can't you see something is obviously wrong here", Alice said snagging her brother by his arm.

"Wow!" Chase yelled as he soared high into the air. Kao ripped free of his sister's grip and ran up the endless stairs with shiny golden hand rails. As I approached the table, I saw a line on the ground; it was thin and barely noticeable, but it was still there. I crossed it. I looked up and saw a thin, barely noticeable line floating in the air. There was one on the stairs too.

"Alice, don't move. Kao, Chase get back here!" I yelled.

"What? Why?" Alice asked.

"Cause", I said slowly making my way across the room back to the line. Suddenly the door slammed as a woman walked in. She had Blonde hair, a white shirt, a pair of jeans on, ordinary sneakers, and a ring. She was obviously a teenager.

"Sup", the new teenage girl said.

Kao ran down the stairs, Chase flew down, and I ran to cross the line. As we all made our way, we all ran into a wall. I got up and tried to push my way through the invisible wall, but no such luck. Kao fell back on the stairs and Chase crashed onto an invisible floor. Alice was alone with the strange ordinary teenage girl.

"What", Chase asked himself rubbing his face which was sore from the crash?

"Huh?" Kao thought as tried to ram the invisible wall.

"Hi, I'm Remi", the teenage girl said. She had a fake, cheesy smile on.

Alice immediately backed up until she hit her back against the invisible wall. Remi slowly approached her. Remi held out her hand to shake. Alice stared, and then looked around to see that she was in an old wooden, creepy house; which was about the same size in as it was out.

* * *

"Alice, stay away from her!" Kao yelled.

"Alice!" I yelled.

"No!" Chase screamed as he pounded on the floor, which was really the ceiling.

Alice couldn't hear or see us and it wasn't long for her to realize that we were gone. She started to freak.

* * *

"Kao, Chase, Garret, where are you", Alice called out as Remi approached her calmly?

"What's the matter", Remi asked, "Are you scared? Oh I know, maybe this will help." The scenery started to change for Alice. We still saw her in the white room.

Alice saw the room change before her eyes. The scenery shifted to Alice's parents' house. Alice's jaw dropped. She ran to her mom.

"MOM!" Alice yelled as tears started to flow fluently out of her eyes. Alice and her mom stared at each other. "Mom, say something." No response.

"Mom?" Alice said uneasy wiping her eyes. No response. Alice backed away from what she thought was her mother. The scene changed back to normal, the old wooden, creepy house.

"What happened", Alice asked?

"I took it away because it was making you sad", Remi said.

"You did that?"

* * *

"Alice!" Kao yelled repeatedly.

"Kao she can't hear us", Chase said sadly.

"So you're just gonna quit?" Kao yelled to Chase.

"Kao, you keep yelling for Alice. Chase, come over here with me and try to figure out a way out of here", I said.

* * *

"Who are you", Alice demanded?

"I told you I'm Remi."

"I'm not in the mood for your games. So now you're going to tell me who you are and where my friends are… Now!" Alice demanded a final time.

"I'm Remi, one of the assassins hired to capture you and your friends are gone", Remi said with a smirk.

"Where are my friends?" Alice yelled out charging Remi with a staff made of ice. She swung it at Remi. Remi sliced it in half with a… with something. Remi only held the hilt of a sword and nothing more.

'_Huh'_, Alice showed on her face in amazement. The end that was cut off never dropped to the floor.

"Oh you're in awe of my sword. Well you can't see it because it's a dimensional blade."

"A what?" Alice said making a weird face.

"A dimensional blade it cuts through dimensions. I'm a D. C., _Dimension Creator_ or _Dimension Cutter. _Either one works." Remi stated proudly. Alice realized where the other side of her ice staff had gone; to another dimension.

"Where are my friends", Alice asked calmly clearing her mind?

"In another dimension of course", Remi chuckled out. Alice formed the other side of her staff again out of ice. Remi and Alice circled each other.

"Let my friends go", Alice said.

"Ooh let me think about that. Umm NO!" At that Remi warped them to another dimension. The scenery shifted. They were suddenly on a street, which had obviously been destroyed by something. Lines floated in the air.

"Then I'll make you", Alice yelled as she ran towards Remi again with her staff of ice!

Alice side swiped the staff of ice at Remi. Remi slashed down without thought, sending one end of Alice's staff to another dimension again, but Alice immediately formed it again as soon as Remi's blade sliced through. Alice quickly shoved the far end of her staff upward, hitting Remi upside the head. Remi stumbled to the floor and quickly regained her balance for a counter attack.

Remi went to slash her sword down on Alice, when she was stopped, by Alice. Alice grabbed ahold of Remi's hands, which were wrapped around the hilt of the dimensional cutting blade. Remi struggled to force it down on her, while Alice did the same thing back. Alice's body tensed and strengthened as she slowly brought Remi's invisible blade on her.

"You can't win", Remi said gasping for air and releasing saliva that had built up in her mouth at the same time.

"I have to… win!" Alice proclaimed through her bared, grinned teeth. Rage flowed through her, but she kept it under control; she couldn't afford to go into L.E.O right now.

"ARGGGHHHH!" They both cried out as they searched their bodies for more strength. Alice's grip on Remi's hands were wearing, Remi's hands raw. The hilt of the sword slowly leaned over toward Remi, more and more by the second. Sweat dripped down their faces and adrenaline pumped rapidly through their bodies, as their survival skills kicked.

Remi smiled as she let go of the blade. The dimensional cutting sword flew behind Remi and landed abruptly. Alice shoved her foot up Remi's gut and ran for the sword. Remi quickly gathered herself back together and tailed Alice. Alice was ahead, but Remi was catching up; Alice would never make it there in time.

Alice dove for the sword as a last resort. Alice hit the ground, rolled, and managed to clasp onto the hilt. Alice stopped herself suddenly and held out the sword with her eyes closed as Remi approached her. Alice kneeled there pointing the sword, waiting for something to happen; nothing happened. Alice peeked up expecting the worst, but there was nothing there; no one there. Alice kneeled there waiting as if there was more, but nothing came.

Alice stood up and held out the sword, in her hand tightly while she closed her eyes. Suddenly the scenery shifted back to normal; the old, creepy house.

"Kao, Chase, Garret!" Alice yelled. Blood dripped off her lip and ran out her nose. Alice walked up to the wall and slashed the sword at it, warping the dimension back to how it was when they got there. Chase, Kao, and I fell through the invisible. We all looked up at Alice and smiled, she smiled back. We got up and crossed the floating lines.

"What are they?" Kao asked.

"Everything within the cube of floating lines is this room; everything outside them is another dimension. The lines are the starting dimensions barriers", I answered in conclusion.

"Wait a second, if that was Remi then who did Splinter kill?"

"3 more to go!" Kao victory cheered.

"So Garret, did you find what you needed?" Alice smirked out sarcastically looking down at the hilt of the Dimensional Blade in her hand. Alice then realized that Remi didn't have a power at all; All Remi had was a sword of power; she wasn't a Levast.

"No, but I know where to look now", I said with a grin peeling up a loose plank from the floor.


	12. A Scream of Courage

As I pried up the board, I saw something scuttle by quickly down a dark, narrow hall. Whatever it was, it ran through the dark hall as if it had nothing to fear.

"There's something down there. Help me get the boards out; quick", I said struggling to pry the floor boards!

Alice scooted me aside, grabbed her hilt, and stabbed the remaining boards, sending them to another dimension. She walked back all subtly acting as though nothing happened. We all climbed down into the hidden hall. We continued to walk down the hall until we were in a room, a very large room at that. It was dimly lit and just as creepy as the house.

Kao started to walk around the room, but when he got to the center of the room he ran into another invisible wall.

"Alice!" Kao yelled in frustration rubbing his forehead.

"What?" Alice remarked. Kao pointed at the invisible wall. Alice felt the wall and then slashed at the wall; nothing happened.

"Bravo. I must say I didn't think you'd make it this far", A voice said from the dark hall. We all looked but saw nothing. Suddenly the room shifted scenes.

"There must be another dimensional blade or something", Alice stated.

"Actually no weapon in fact; I wouldn't waste my life chasing around some invisible sword and then lose it to some kid." The man's voice said. We still couldn't see him.

"Though you must know I am by far stronger than my sister. She wasted her time chasing the wind and when she caught it she couldn't control it; my sister poured her heart and soul into finding that sword", the voice said.

"You want the sword? You can have it!" I yelled trying to locate the man's position. Alice, Kao, and I were looking all around trying to find the man, while Chase stood there and stared at us.

"What are you guys doing?" Chase asked.

"We're looking for the guy; what are you doing?" Alice said.

"You mean the guy standing right there", Chase asked inquisitively?

"What guy? Where?" Kao asked.

"Wait a minute", Chase said with a serious face. It was the second time I'd ever seen him with a serious face on. Suddenly Chase's backpack was snatched off his back and disappeared into a wall.

"Hey!" Chase yelled, "Give it back! It's mine!"

"Chase what's going on?" I asked.

"You can't see him, but I can?" Chase asked himself. "Kao Behind you!"

Kao was suddenly hit by something across the face. He dropped to the floor swiftly and without a noise; he was out cold.

"Chase, you wanna narrate what's happening for us since we can't see our opponent?" I said quickly.

"I can't see him now", Chase stated.

"WHAT!" Alice screamed, "How can you see him on second and not the other!"

"How can you not see him", Chase said.

"He's got a point you know", I chuckled out. Alice glared. The glare continued for the next few second which created a really awkward moment.

"Garret, duck!" Chase commanded. I motioned to duck, but my reaction wasn't quick enough. I felt a cold hard fist crush into my jaw. I fell to the ground holding my jaw; I was still conscious, but that hurt like hell. Then I felt the force of an elbow being driven into my back. The pain fluttered through my body, I was still conscious, but I just couldn't find the strength to move.

"Alice, over here", Chase called out. Chase grabbed her hand and ran. As Chase was about to guide into a hall, she stopped.

"Chase, are you alright?" Alice asked with a weird face on.

"Ya, now come on. We've got to hurry", Chase said trying to pull her arm. She wouldn't budge. "Come on!"

"Okay, now I know that sugar's really gotten to your head. You realize you're trying into a wall right?" Alice said and asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"The wall? The one you're about to run into?" Alice said. Chase let go of her hand and walked forward. He disappeared into the wall right before Alice's eyes. "What's going on?"

"It's an illusion, but it's only affecting you guys for some reason. Now let's hurry!" Chase said sternly. "Alice, you go ahead. I'll buy you some time."

"But I can't see where I'm going", Alice said.

"It's a Double Reverse Illusion. It reverses walls and paths; just walk into the walls and if you actually run into a real wall, then know that I got him and I'll be laughing at you. Now go and remember paths are wall and walls are paths." Chase said as he saw the man standing there. The man just stood there motionless.

"How is it that your immune to my illusions", the man asked as he unzipped Chase's backpack?

"Leave us alone and give me back my backpack", Chase said. The man smiled at Chase as he reached in grabbed several packets of sugar and poured them into his mouth. "Hey! Those are mine!"

"Not any more", the man said swallowing the sugar. Remi's brother started to grab packet after packet, opening them and pouring them on the ground. Chase's face wore a devastated look as the ounces of sugar dropped to the floor.

I could see Chase standing there in shock of something, but I didn't know what.

'_Chase, remember you don't have a weapon', I thought out._

'_Thank you for the update, Captain Obvious' Chase thought as a smirk drew on his face.

* * *

_

"That's a real wall, that's a fake, that's a OUCH!" Alice yelled as she walked into her third already.

"HUH! Stairs! That's good! Yes!" Alice said rubbing her head as she started to climb up the ladder. Alice's was back in the old house; she ran out the door as fast as she could. She stopped outside the door to catch her breathe. The illusions faded away.

"I've figured out your secret now, sucker", Alice said talking about the illusionist.

"Are you okay, dear", a man asked kindly. He was an older man; grey short hair, beard, and a cane. Okay he was a_ really_ old man, but he looked in really good shape. It was almost as though he didn't need the cane to walk.

"AWWWW!" Alice screamed as she tried to run away, but was stopped by the man.

* * *

"Alice", I groaned out.

"No! Alice!" Chase yelled.

* * *

"It's alright. I'm here to help", the old man said to Alice.

* * *

'_I've got to beat him. For my sugar! NO! NO! For Alice and Team Starlight' Chase loudly shouted to himself in his head_.

"Well playtime is over", the man said tearing the last pack of sugar out of Chase's backpack, "I have a mission to complete and you're not going to get in my way."

"And I have a friend to protect and I'm not going to let you get in _my_ way."

"Suit yourself."

* * *

"ARGHHHHH", I groaned out in pain as I forced my muscles to move. Every move I made burned on my muscles and was full of pain. I crawled to Kao and shook him frantically. He wouldn't wake up. I overheard Chase talking to Alice, about the whole wall and path switching thing; so I decided to give it a try. I snagged ahold of Kao's shirt and dragged him along with me as I crawled through what looked like walls.

* * *

Alice's scream echoed through Chase's head. It encouraged him; strengthened him for the time being. Knowing he had to win, pumped adrenaline through his veins; Chase had always had Team Starlight to fight with him and now he was alone in his battle.

'_Garret and Kao are down. Alice's is in trouble. I have to do this!'_


	13. The Untamed Demon

"Are you just going to stand there or are we going to fight", the Remi's brother said. Chase gritted his teeth and glared at the man.

"ARGHHH", chase yelled as he charged at the man. The man stood there as if he had nothing to fear; he paid no attention to Chase. Chase continued to run towards the man. Chase cocked his fist back and unleashed it on the man's face. The man simply turned his head while he laughed at Chase's fatal mistake.

Every vein in Chase's body was now bulging out in plain eye sight. Pain cringed through Chase's body. Chase lay there curled up; every muscle in his body was tense. Chase tried move, but couldn't fight the excruciating pain that ran through his body.

"There's one thing you should know about me, Illusions aren't my Levaste; they're my hobby", the man said shoving his foot into Chase's stomach. Chase's veins flared out, farther than they should've; the veins on his arms started to pop and bleed. He was losing blood fast, too fast.

"My real Levaste is Muscle Cringe. Every time someone or something with muscle tissue touches me, their muscles tense and cringe with extreme pain sending their body into a deep shock. You can't hurt me", the man said as he picked up Chase by his arms. Blood started to flow out of Chase's mouth, without his body even moving a muscle. Veins started to burst all over his body. Chase was quickly losing his grip on life.

'_I'm sorry Alice. I can't do it' Chase thought for a final time._

"Now are we done here? Good." The man said as he glanced back at Chase's motionless body. His clothes were filled with his blood; all around Chase's body was a pool of his blood. Remi's brother started to walk away.

_Gurgle! Blurp!_

"(Cough, cough)!" Chase managed as he coughed and spit out vast amounts of blood.

"How!" Remi's brother asked.

"GRRAGGHHHGGG", Chase roared out as he still lay their motionless. Suddenly Chase lifted himself up on his hands and knees. He continued to growl and roar violently in a demonic voice.

"Fine I'll finish off for sure now!" The man said as he grabbed Chase by the throat and squeezed tightly. Chase showed no sign of pain. Chase grabbed Remi's brother by the throat also and then threw him across the hall.

"Huh?" The man thought feeling the burnt deteriorating skin on his neck where Chase's hand had been. Nothing was making sense to him now.

"ARRGGHHHAHHG", Chase roared again as he fell to the floor and cringed up again. This time the cringes weren't from Remi's brother. Chase glanced at his arm; it was starting to deteriorate and shrivel away. Chase was starting to be able to see his bone. His skin was deteriorating down his left side of his body and up his left side of his neck to his jaw. Whatever blood was left in Chase drizzled out of the left side of his body. His skin stopped deteriorating at his left hip and his up left lip. The skin was gone; you could see the bones on his left side of his body.

Chase's left hand wasn't a hand anymore, it was a claw; a claw of bones and dead flesh, mutated rotten flesh. He had four thin long claws where his hand should've been; he had no thumb anymore, on his left hand at least. He looked … half demon or something.

"I told you I don't have time for this", the man said trying to be brave, even though he wanted to run right about now. Chase gave him a half smile; the deteriorated demonic half. His teeth were fanged and sharp, but not like a vampires or something, more like a demons. The half demonic smile sent fears of fear far beyond fear deep into Remi's brother soul.

Chase stood up with ease, no pain. Chase started to walk towards the man.

* * *

"Get away from me!" Alice commanded as she to form her staff of ice out for protection. The old man had a left arm in a cast

"Please you have to trust me! I don't have much time. You have to trust me, Alice!" The old man said in younger voice.

"How do you know my name? You're and assassin aren't you?" Alice asked and yelled in fierce tone.

"Alice do you trust me", the old man asked holding his hand out. His hand was that of a teenage boys; Alice looked at his hand and then stared. She reached out to touch his arm in the cast, but he moved away. Alice recognized the old man.

"Not yet. Now come on let's hurry", the man said. He suddenly looked younger, like a teenage boy.

* * *

Chase continued to walk towards Remi's brother, except his walk was more like a limp.

"I have a friend to protect and you're not going to get in my way", Chase said in a deeper voice. He seemed more mature and demonic than he did before.

"Wha… what are y... you?" the man asked with a shaky voice. He stood up and puffed his chest out trying to be brave. Suddenly Chase and Remi's brother bother charged each other. As Chase ran his wings spread out, but they were different; at least the left one was. Chase's right wing looked like a regular bat wing, but his left wing was all crippled looking and tattered.

Chase slashed his claw at the man, leaving a large gash across his stomach. The man punched back violently, but his Levaste had no effect on Chase. Chase picked him up and slammed him against the wall of the hall. The man heaved for the air that had been knocked out of him. The man grabbed ahold of Chase's demonic arm trying to force his Levaste to work.

"I'm your worst nightmare, that's what I am", Chase replied as he dropped the man and shoved his claw straight through the man's stomach. The man opened his mouth, but nothing came out except blood.

"This must be your L.E.O., Half Demon Claw. But you can't control a demon. You think you're in control, but you're not", Remi's brother chuckled out.

"L.E.O.'s have names? Whatever all I have to do is kill you and enjoy it", Chase said in a creepy, demonic voice. Chase pulled his claw of the man and shoved it through every other part of the man's body.

"ARGGGHHH" was the last noise Remi's brother ever made.

"Kao come on! Wake up!" I yelled to Kao, "Chase, are you alright?" I couldn't help but notice Chase's new… features.

"Ya I'm fine", Chase said licking the blood off of his lip.

"Chase", I said looking at the torn apart body in the hall. I noticed the illusions were gone now. I also noticed limbs of… a human scattered across the hall. Suddenly Chase charged me.

* * *

"How far do we go?" Alice asked.

"As far as possible", the full teenage boy said as he rubbed his casted arm anxiously.

"What about Chase, Garret, and Kao?" Alice asked.

"Garret will know how to find us." The teenage boy replied.

"How do you know?" Alice questioned.

"He just will, trust me."

* * *

Sorry for this code thingy, i can't seem to make it go away

4f603605-8b9e-4148-99ee-7ffeab17b416

1.03.01


	14. The Picture

"CHASE!" I yelled darting to the side as Chase's claw swiped at my face. I already have one scar on my face; I didn't need two. "Chase Stop!"

"Stop what? I'm just playing with you", Chase said with a smirk.

'_Crud! What do I do?' I thought to myself._

'_Just close your eyes and count to ten and all your problems will be gone' Chase replied back in thought._

"Chase, what about Alice? We've gotta protect her!" Kao said regaining consciousness.

"ARGGHHH!" Chase ran towards Kao. Chase's left half of his jaw ripped apart, like a snakes but in a demonic way; Chase was going to try to tear Kao to shreds. But as Chase neared Kao, something stopped him.

Chase glanced down to see _Fire Akurei Tsume_ pierce through his chest. The flame of Kao's spear seared Chase back into reality; it burned Chase back in control of himself. He couldn't manage a noise out of his mouth. Chase's deteriorated skin was returning to normal and his withered wing was growing back. His claw undeformed itself back into his original hand.

Chase gasped for air and a few tears dropped as his knees buckled beneath. He dropped to the floor motionless. Kao removed his spear.

"Chase?" I asked.

"It was an accident, I promise!" Kao pleaded as he knelt down a shook Chase's body. "Chase, get up."

"Kao, stop, Let's go. You did what you had to", I said trying not to choke up.

"We're just going to leave him here? Shouldn't we at least bury him or something?" Kao said with great remorse in his voice.

"We have to find Alice, so let go", I said trying to be the kind of brave leader that everyone always wants to be, but never can.

"I'm sorry Chase", Kao said walking down the hall to the stairs.

Kao and I walked outside without saying a word to each other. The silence ached on our hearts.

"Where's Alice?" I asked.

"Awe thanks for leaving me, you guys", a familiar voice rang out. Kao and I spun around quickly.

"CHASE!" We both cried out as we tackled him to the ground; our intended hug. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Ugh, ya I'm alive", chase said, "Why'd you guys leave me?"

"We thought you were dead", Kao said.

"WHAT!" Chase yelled.

Kao and I explained what happened in the fastest way possible, since we wanted to find Alice. Chase's face changed expressions rapidly during the story and by the end; his face was that of one which was puzzled, excited, slightly scared, and proud.

"THAT IS SO COOL!" Chase proclaimed. "I'm awesome, I'm awesome, I'm awesome!"

"And he's back to normal", Kao sighed.

* * *

"Are you sure he can find us", Alice asked?

"Just trust me, he'll know."

* * *

"So you're telling me you have no idea how to find Alice", Kao asked?

"How is this suddenly my fault?" I stated, "Let's just choose a path quickly."

"What if we choose the wrong one?" Chase asked.

"Kao, look a _PENNY!_" I yelled.

"Is it shiny?"

"Yep and it's over there! So let' go", I said choosing a random direction.

_20 minutes later… _

"I don't think you saw a penny", Kao said.

"No, I did. It's just a little farther", I told Kao. Chase chuckled in the background as he flew behind us.

* * *

"So your name's Ben right", Alice asked?

"Ya", Ben replied.

"So what exactly is your Levaste?"

"I can age and mature my body. My mind stays the same. People always think that technology is my Levaste, but they never stop and think that maybe… just maybe I'm actually really smart naturally", Ben answered. "Oh ya I'm 18 by the way. It's probably hard to tell me."

Alice smiled and laughed, but was interrupted by Kao's disbelief of the shiny penny sermon.

"Kao! Garret! Chase!" Alice exclaimed.

"Who's this", we all asked?

"I'm Ben"

"The same ben from the…" Chase asked?

"Yes, the kid from the alley", Ben replied.

"Wow, you grew up fast!" Kao said in surprise. Everyone stared at Kao and then laughed.

"Alice, you left your sword back at the old house, but I grabbed it for ya", I said.

"Oh thanks, but no thanks."

"You don't want it", Chase asked thrilled?

"Not really, because then I'd have to carry it around. I prefer to use concealed ice weapons", Alice said.

"Ooh, can I have it. I don't have a weapon", Chase asked loudly as he changed his voice to a sympathy getting voice.

"Umm, sure, but do you even know how to use a sword?" Alice questioned.

"Of course", Chase said grabbing hold of the hilt. He swung the invisible sword, accidentally making several trees vanish. "Oops."

"Let me have it; I'll take care of it", Ben pleaded. "Chase, you said you need a weapon? What do ya use?"

"I prefer gauntlets", he answered. "Why?"

"Meet me at my house Wednesday night, kay?"

"Umm, kay", Chase replied.

"We need to call Chris", Garret said. "Ben, do you need a ride home." Chase called Chris on my cell phone.

"Nah, I'm going walk. I have other stuff to take care of first"

"Ben, you do realize how far that is right?" Kao asked.

"Ya, I'll be fine."

"Umm okay whatever", Kao answered.

"So Garret did you find whatever you were after?" Alice smirked once again.

"I think so", I said pulling a picture out of my pocket. It was a picture of a young girl with her parents. My grandpa was in it also, with a silver necklace dangling out of his pocket. "Hey Alice, are these your parents?"

"No, why? What are you thinking, Garret", Alice asked?

I stared at the picture a little longer.

"Ughh, nothing."

"Hey you guys, Chris is here", Chase yelled to us.

We finally started heading back, but there were still two assassins out there somewhere. Two adults, a young girl, my grandfather, and my silver necklace; I didn't understand much of it, but what I did understand was that my grandpa was somehow tied to the two adults and the girl, but who are they?


	15. Unseen Weapons

"Garret, come on!" Everyone yelled as I studied the picture a bit longer.

"So waddya think Ben wants you for on Wednesday, Chase", Alice asked.

"I don't know, I assume he gonna make me a WEAPON! FINALLY!" Chase proclaimed.

"Doesn't it sound fishy that Ben, of all people, has business out in the middle of the woods? I mean, what could he possibly do out here?" I exclaimed.

As we walked a bit farther, we came in view of the car; Chris' car. He probably wasn't too happy with the fact that we stood him up the other night. Chris was unique in one way; the fact that he knew about our Levaste and didn't care, made him unique. Every other kid in school would have run screaming to the police.

"Hey, does anyone else feel that?" Kao asked. His body shuddered and grew goose bumps instantaneously.

"Feel what?" Alice asked. Alice eyeballed Kao; she knew something was up.

"There", Kao muttered out softly as he watched a tiny blur out of the corner of his eye sprint through the forest at a rapid pace.

"What?" Chase asked. The next thing we knew was Kao was gone, without a sound.

"Where's Kao?" Chase and I asked Alice, who seemed to already be trailing her brother. Chase took flight and I ran.

"Aww come on! Not again!" Chris yelled watching us run off into the woods again.

Kao could see something up ahead. It was hard for Kao to concentrate on both his target and his path. As he continued to run, Kao buried his face in a pile of dirt, face planting from the tree root that suddenly sprouted from the ground. Kao quickly gathered himself together and ran on. A Vine slid down the tree and crawled at a fast rate towards Kao, but stopped as a sword of ice pierced through it, cutting it in half.

Kao glanced back quickly to thank his sister.

As Kao ran, he realized he'd lost sight of his target; so he just ran on. But as he ran, Kao suddenly dug his heels into the ground and held out his hands, which were emitting huge flames with such power that they nearly reversed Kao's momentum bringing him to a stop. Several objects penetrated the air and pierced into the tree next to Kao. Kao caught a glimpse of them momentarily as he reached for his neck. The objects were thin, long, and clear making them barely noticeable.

A thin layer of skin peeled off of his neck. Kao proceeded, but with a bit more caution this time. As Kao ran and regained sight of his target, he yelled, "_Fire Akurei Tsume!" _ summoning his spear. He grasped his spear, ran, and jumped of the edge of the miniature cliff of a large ditch. The ditch was about fifteen feet wide and 20 feet deep. In midair, Kao chucked his spear at his target and with both hands gripped on to the ledge of the other side of the ditch, quickly pulling himself up.

As Kao stood, something pierced into left shoulder and left arm; nailing him to the tree next to him. Kao turned his head to see what was holding him back. Thin, long glass slithers, barely noticeable, were holding Kao to the tree. The glass shards were about 6 to 8 inches long.

Suddenly a masked man dropped down from a tree and approached Kao. Kao struggled to pull the shards out of his arm and shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that", the voice of a women spoke out from behind her pink camo scarf, which masked her face. "You'll break the shard and shatter it in your body, which will cause you to bleed internally till you die."

Kao glared back figuring it was true. Kao glanced down and notice a part of her black tattered robe she wore was torn and singed off; he'd hit her robe with his spear.

"Follow me again and I'll kill you", she said pulling out the glass shards and shoving him down towards the ditch. Kao rolled to the edge of the ditch and got up.

"_Fire Akurei Tsume!" _Kao yelled as he threw his spear at the mystery woman once more. She ran, wall jumped from tree to tree, and back flipped over Kao's spear. Kao went to run, but couldn't. He looked down to see his body covered in glass shards. In the midst of all that, she still had time to attack.

"I told you not to interfere with my agenda." The mystery woman spoke out softly. Kao stood there paralyzed. "Don't worry, you're only temporarily paralyzed, but if you continue to interfere I won't hold back."

"Who are you?" Kao demanded. He struggled to move his body, but there was no response.

"You're in no position to be asking the questions. Though I do have one question for you, how did you see me?"

* * *

"Alice! Watch out!" I yelled as I watched Alice dodge a series of vines and roots. Vines and roots cracked against the floor, where Alice crouched. She quickly rolled forward avoiding them. She gripped her ice sword tightly as she ran forward towards the lady standing in the midst of it all. The only thing was was that that lady was the lady which Splinter killed.

"How are you alive?" Alice yelled baring her teeth as she slammed into a tree by a vine.

"No," I yelled as I lashed at a series of newly grown vines readily growing their way to engulf Alice in another cocoon! "Sorry I'm late", I said smiling at Alice. She smiled back.

* * *

No answer.

Kao's body was growing weary and he couldn't move. The mystery woman walked up to Kao and shoved him off the edge. Kao free fell with no hope of escape and possibly even survival considering his condition. Kao was waiting for pictures and memories to flash through his head like they did in the movies whenever someone was on the brink of death, but nothing happened except the swift rushing air fall off his body as he climbed in altitude. Kao didn't know what was happening.

"Didn't think you were alone, did you?" Chase said smiling and flapping his big juicy bat wings. Kao smirked back. "Rest, I'll be back." Chase said setting Kao down. Chase slowly and carefully pulled the long glass needles out of Kao and then took off with a few of them in the direction of the mystery woman.

* * *

"Alice, I'll cover you! GO!" I said as protecting Alice from all the vines and roots with the desire to devour her.


	16. Our First Real Fight

Alice ran as I tagged along behind her. A vine spun around like a helicopter, with the intention to trip us, but Alice froze it as she slashed downward from her jump of a tree stump. I was keeping cover for her, mutilating any and every vine and root possible that came near her. Alice approached the woman, with vines licking around her body, frolicking- waiting to attack.

"Well, well you surprise me dear", the woman said, "The last fight, you were absolutely worthless, but now you're different."

"That's because I'm tired of all this and I'm gonna end it… Now!" Alice screamed out as she charged the woman. A vine simply whipped Alice about as it grasped her foot and flung her into me. I caught her and set her to her feet.

"Take it easy, Alice. We're in it together, remember?" I lectured Alice.

"Oh sure, now you act mature"

"What?" I asked.

"Well enough chit chat. I'm here for the girl, not you. So I'll just kill you first." The woman said glaring at me.

"As if!" I said jumping away from the roots which nearly had their grasp on me. I ducked beneath a vine that swirled above me, the one that just nearly decapitated me. Her vines weren't regular vines; instead of thorns, they had razors- a million of them on each vine.

I ran and slashed several vines, which had dropped down to wrap around me and mutilate me. Alice fought on the other side of the woman, about 100 yards away. I didn't realize how far I'd run avoiding vines and roots; I quickly made my way back.

"Well play times over", the woman said. She ran towards me with her ferocious, rigorous razor vines. She leaped through the air and landed right in front of me, her impact made me stumble backwards several feet. She dropped her vines and grabbed me by the foot as I tried to scurry away and get back up. My sword drizzled out of my hand back into a necklace; I tried to summon it, but it wouldn't move to my will.

She tossed me into the nearest tree; my body wrapped around it and dropped to the floor. I didn't know my back could bend the far. I rolled on the ground trying to get up as her foot slammed against my chest. I was winded momentarily and out of breathe. Regain my breath; I slammed my elbow into her leg, which REALLY hurt considering the fact that her leg was now covered in vines, razor vines. I ignored the gashes on my arm.

"Stay away from him!" Alice yelled tackling the woman to the ground; I got up immediately. But as Alice yelled I felt myself drained of power, skill. Alice wrestled with the woman up until she practically ate the woman's elbow which had been shoved down her throat. Alice rolled over and coughed out blood as the woman made her way back to me.

I snagged my necklace and ran. I tried to form it into a sword, but it sat there in my hand motionless.

"You can't hide from me", the woman said. My eyes widened wider than ever, when I realized where the voice had come from. Her arms reached out from within' a tree and slammed my head into it. I gathered myself together once again.

"My Name is Reina. The forest, woods, jungle, and anything green are my playground. Splinter and Remi were new assassins, who were somehow allowed to tag along. They are worthless, you have won nothing; defeated no one. Anyone you have ever fought has been the lowest of the low; the weakest of the weak. You are nothing compared to me!" She said as she hammered he fist into my face several times. Blood poured out of my mouth and nose.

How could I be so useless, worthless? I hadn't even had a chance to attack, her attacks were rapid; one after another and I couldn't use my sword. I was trapped in her torture chamber; A toy in her game. I could barely see Alice in the distance; she was still hacking blood and holding her face. How could I fail! Alice had been so …great. Her skills were out of the ordinary from her normal self and I could barely back her up or keep up with her for that much. It was almost as if she'd swapped skills with me or something.

I rolled over as her fist cocked back to break my skull. The impact of her fist to the ground was harsh. I got up and ran knowing it useless trying to fight her; the ground, the trees, vines, roots… everything was her weapon.

* * *

Chase ran after the mystery woman or actually he flew. He had her in sight, but he followed her a bit to see what/ who she might've been after. As Chase continued to fly, he lost sight of her and realized he was now in an open field. He landed quietly, hoping she had not seen or even known about him. Suddenly a glass shard appeared in Chase's wing.

'Huh?' Chase thought as ducked beneath a fallen log. As chase went to crawl to the other side, something/ someone wrapped the hand around his mouth and held him. Chase struggled to get free. Finally rolling away, the culprit was revealed.

"BEN!" Chase proclaimed a tad louder than he should have. Ben tackled chase down, cupping his hand around Chase's mouth.

"MHMMHHHMHM", Chase murmured softy. Ben released his mouth slowly.

"Stay low, quiet and follow my lead", Ben whispered tearing off his cast. Beneath it was a ….a? Chase stared at it in silence.

"It's a Robotic Molecular Infrastructural Body of Armor, but I've modified it to fit my likings. It works on my brain waves using my thoughts", Ben said replying to Chase's blank stare. Chase was in awe. "NOW!" ben yelled taking off. Chase was a bit slow but eventually caught up.

Ben held out is robotic arm against his chest. He closed his eyes tightly and thought out his command.

'_Needle Spore!'_ _Chase heard Ben say in his thoughts. _

Volleys of needles flew out of Ben's Robotic arm as compartments opened on his arm. Glass shattered somewhere close, but Chase couldn't tell where from. As Ben and Chase ran, glass shards were shot into the tree, like arrows, all around them. As Ben continued to run, Chase stopped and hid behind a tree. And as Ben ran, Chase saw someone running and hopping from tree branch to branch. The person looked almost as if they were doing the mocarina or something. His hands were continually on and off of his body almost as though he were grabbing something off of his body and throwing them at a very fast pace.

Chase hopped into the air and pursued the man. As Chase followed the person noticed and threw objects back at him. Chase Flapped his wings as hard and fast as possible as he could to avoid the fleet of glass slivers thrown at him by the person. Chase flew on with speed until he caught up.

It was as if the person hadn't seen him yet. Chase went in for the swoop, gaining speed continuously until he tackled the man. Chase wrapped his arms around the person, taking them down with him. They fell about 15 feet, but with a fast speed also. Chase was all cut up and bruised. The other person moaned and grunted like a girl?

Chase picked himself up and plucked several glass shards out of his wing, despite the pain. The other person rolled on the floor and tried to get up, but it seemed as though he was hurt. Chase walked over to him and was tripped by the person's foot. The person quickly rolled onto top of Chase and held a glass shard to his throat and pressed gently.

"Time…. Out?" Chase stated as the slither was slowly pressed deeper into Chase's throat. He dropped the shard and slapped Chase across the face.

"Why is everyone getting in my way today?" The voice of a girl spoke out in anger.

"You're a girl?" Chase said softly to the 'girl' behind the pink camo scarf.

* * *

There was nowhere to run really, but to Chris. Chris it was! I made my way for Chris's car, but as I was on my way I was tripped by… ALICE! Alice slid her foot quickly before Reina saw. Reina made her way to me. She stood over me, before shoving the tip of her shoe into my side. Blood shot out of my mouth in splatters.

"Game over", Reina whispered as she grew her whip out. She cocked her arm back ready to unleash her whip of death across my neck, decapitating me; but as she released her arm something stopped her dead in her tracks. She didn't finish her slash. All I could see was a sword piercing through Reina's chest covered in blood and Alice standing over her.

"Yes, Game Over", Alice growled.

As dropped on her knees as more blood drizzled out of her mouth and then fell to the floor dropping her sword of ice, which didn't look normal. It was silver and light blue, light blue being ice and silver being… my necklace? The silver sword melted and seeped its way onto my neck back into My Necklace. The last thing I remember was Alice whispering to me as she smiled...

"Team Starlight's first win."


	17. Amy

**_S-18 is not my term. It belongs to Chaison, who is my cousin and also happens to be represented as Chase in Levaste.  
_**

* * *

"Of course I'm a GIRL!" The 'Girl' yelled to Chase. She unwrapped her Pink camo scarf from her face. Her eye's glistened as the morning sun reflected off. She crawled away from Chase and propped herself up against the nearest tree. She held her ankle as it started to swell up and took off her vest. Her vest was full of glass shard. Then I looked closer, her whole body was covered in glass shards! That's why she looked like she was doing the mocarina or something, because she was rapidly snagging slivers of glass from her body and throwing them.

As Chase started to get up, he felt a sudden pain in his wing again; she'd thrown more glass shards into his wing pinning him to the tree. Pain grew inside Chase's wing. He stared at her in pain and confusion.

"You're not going anywhere!" She screamed.

"Who are you", Chase asked trying to hide his pain? The girl wore dark blue jeans and a light blue shirt with some writing on it, which Chase couldn't make out. "Why are you chasing us?"

"I'm not chasing you, I was chasing him and I'm not obliged to answer your first question", She responded softly, trying to ease the pain in her ankle. "Well who are you and what ARE you …doing here?"

"Why do people always say that like I'm an animal or something?" Chase growled out without thinking. Chase looked at his wings then at her. The two of them glared at each other, and then busted out laughing.

"I'm sorry but that was funny!" She giggled out of her laughter. Chase couldn't help but notice her eyes; it looked as though they constantly shifted from blue to green.

"No it's ironic!" Chase said smiling.

"What? How it's that… never mind. You didn't answer my question."

"I'm not obliged to answer." Chase smirked.

"I at least told you what I was doing", the girl stated.

"Fine, I'm half bat. Are you happy?" Chase said sarcastically.

"You still didn't answer my question", the girl said laughing at Chase.

"You said what are you and I answered that."

"No I asked what are you …doing here. There's a difference, it's killing a two bat's with one stone; or maybe it's two birds with one stone", she said cracking up as she nearly drowned herself in tears of laughter.

"Well…", Chase said as he explained the whole story to her. She stared at him in confusion.

"So your friend is being targeted by 6 assassins, your addicted to sugar, You got possessed by a demon, and now I've lost my target thanks to you", She said getting back on track to her mission.

"Why are you tracking Ben?"

"The kid with the robotic arm?" She said, "Because he has something that belongs to us."

"And that is?" Chase urged her on to talk.

"If you must know, he stole the blue prints to our Robotic Armored Molecular Infrastructural Body or RAMIB."

"No he didn't! He got that from a guy named Gerard, we were there when he got it." Chase proclaimed.

"Either way, I still need to retrieve the blue prints and that arm of his", the girl stated, "It belongs to S-18."

"S-18?"

"It's a secret Government Organization that takes in children who are unnaturally born and trains them. My job is to retrieve people with these special needs and bring them in."

"Special needs?" Chase asked.

"I can rephrase that", She said with a smile.

"So what happens after you bring them in?" Chase asked.

"I don't really know", she said crawling over to Chase; "I'm Amy by the way."

"I'm Chase, so anyway won't you get in trouble for telling me all this?"

"Ya, I was already in trouble when I let my target get away, but all they'll do is probably send a few people to come kill me." Amy said as if she didn't care. She tugged on all the glass slivers till they slid out of my wing.

"And that doesn't bother you?" Chase asked.

"They can't catch me", Amy said with a smile.

Chase stood up and spread out his wings as wide as he could. His Giant Bat wings flared out. Amy stared as in amazement. She was speechless.

"So I take it this is your Levaste", Chase asked pulling the last glass shard out of his wing which she'd accidentally left?

"Kind of", she mumbled out. "My Levaste isn't actually a Levaste. S-18 gave it to me."

"How did they give you a Levaste? A Levaste chooses its Levast. It's like a dog, how a he chooses its master, so does a Levaste", Chase said in confusion.

"I don't know all the details, but at least I have one right?" Amy said with a cheesy smile.

Thoughts raced through Chase's head, violently spinning about in his mind. The only one Chase could manage to put his finger on was that they somehow …stole a Levaste from a Levast. The thought of it frightened Chase. He stared at her in strange sad way.

"Umm… right", Chase said unsure with his answer. Chase helped Amy up and helped her walk as they made their way towards us.

* * *

'_What's this bright light' _I thought as I stared into a … bright light? I leaned up and forward, propping myself up on my arms as they locked into position. I rubbed my eyes, while I yawned trying to wake myself up further. My vision slowly blurred into place, as I pieced together a room. It was the living room of Team Starlight's base, my team's base. I spun my head around to see Alice lying on the couch with bandages all over her body.

She laid there peacefully as I got up slowly trying not to make a sound. But unfortunately my attempt was a fail.

"You're up finally", Alice said with a weak, but still comforting voice. Her face either managed to go unmarked or it had already healed itself. She flipped her hair to the side as it fell over her face.

My body was fine, except for the fact that I was weak; a little food and rest and I'd be good to go in no time. I didn't see Chase or Kao anywhere in the room.

"What happened?" I asked Alice.

"I don't know either. I woke up a few hours ago and was wondering the same thing", Alice said smiling. She was always so cheerful and just….. Well herself…. most of the time.

I saw a pink camo scarf lying on the ground by the door, then walked outside and realized it was Tuesday morning.

"Crap! I'm late for school!" I screeched as I pieced all the stuff in my backpack together and slipped on a change of clothes. Two weeks left of school; I did not want to end this school year on a bad note.

"I wouldn't bother its 2:45 right now." Alice stated. School ended at 3:00.

I dropped all my stuff and sighed. I walked out to the back yard and to my surprise found Kao and Chase training…. with some chick throwing glass slivers at them! My sword morphed from a necklace into a sword without me even having to force it. The sword felt different; heavier. As if the weight of all of our problems sat upon it.

"Are you up for a challenge?" The teenage girl asked me with a grin.

I didn't know who she was or what she was doing here but I accepted.


	18. Black Blades

I ducked and rolled, making my way behind the broken brown picnic table in the back yard of our base as fleets of glass slivers cut through the air behind me. The weight of my sword weighed me down as I ran, I didn't know why but it felt heavier. My challenger stood on the opposite side of the yard taunting me as she threw more glass shard. She stood there as if she weren't even trying.

"Come on! I'm not even trying!" She yelled out mocking me as I took cover. I didn't know why, but her eyes changed colors; from blue to green.

I rolled out, my sword still in my hand, and charged. I figure eight slashed the next volley of glass needles. Glass shattered constantly all around, luckily not against me. One slither of glass cut it's way through my pants, barely nicking my leg. The pain felt intense, even though it barely caught me. Adrenaline pumped through me ferociously, allowing me to ignore the pain.

I approached her. Glass stopped flying at me as I stood several feet away from her. Her shifting eyes distracted me constantly, but I wasn't going to let that get in my way. Cold air rolled off my tongue as sweat fell down my brows. My sword in my hand, ready to slash, I took my turn; One quick blow to her side with my sword. But she wasn't there.

I felt a pain in my back as she removed her fist. I rolled away as she brought down her fist once again. I got up in a hurry and readied my sword. Concentrated, I swing several times; this time nearly hitting her. She avoided each one carefully. Then finally she snagged hold of my sword twisted it of my hand, it went flying. Neither of us went for the sword; she didn't reach for glass shards.

"You can't just depend on your weapons to defend you", she said staring at me, then my sword. "If you're going up against Phantom Heart, you have to learn to attack and defend with both your sword and your hands. You're going to have to attack with meaning, with reason."

"I have a reason!" I barked back as I swing my fist in her direction. She parried the blow easily and countered it with her knuckles in my ribs. My hand slid to my rib.

"Revenge is not a reason. You need a true meaning to fight for, a True reason. Until you find one, your attacks will be meaningless and your defense is hopeless. You wont' survive against Phantom Heart like this." She insisted. I still had no idea who she was or what she was doing here.

Her hand slid through the air past my face, I grabbed her arm and pulled myself in. My elbow landed on her face, but lightly. Her arms moved so fast I couldn't keep up. The next thing I knew I was on the ground, face to the dirt. I slowly crawled up and stared in confusion and amazement. Blood drizzled down my lip slowly.

"Who are you?" I questioned.

"The newest member of Team Starlight. I'm from a secret government organization called S-18. I'll just let Chase explain," She said looking at Chase. Chase went on to explain about her, S-18, how he invited her to join their team, and how she was going to train the team.

"My training is quite extensive. I was one of S-18's top operatives, but they have many more operatives above me." Amy added. "I wanted to fight all of you to see where you guys are at."

"Well where are we?" I asked.

"Well, you all each have a lot to learn; though I haven't fought Alice yet..." She said with a sigh.

The rest of the day was pretty boring for the most part. We sat there just talking and doing nothing. I went to the hospital to visit my mom, to let her know that I was okay and to see how she was doing, but she was sleeping the entire time I was there. By the time I came back, it was 7 or so, I was dead tired.

* * *

As I opened the door, I could hear Chase, Kao, and Amy training outside. But something seemed out of place. I walked into the kitchen, nothing out of the ordinary; just all the silverware and knives scattered all across the kitchen floor as if something/someone had ransacked our base! I walked back out into the living room, to find several holes in the walls and a trail of blood from the kitchen to the front door. I also noticed patches of ice all over the room.

"Where's Alice!" I demanded as I ran out back.

"What do you mean? She's on the couch... isn't she?" Kao said. Everyone ran inside. Their blank innocent stares enraged me.

"What are you doing? Go Look for HER!" I yelled as I ran out the door. My sword fell into my hand as I ran, and suddenly it didn't seem so heavy. Maybe I had a reason to fight, but just didn't know it yet.

* * *

"Ben! Ben! Ben!" Chase yelled as he pounded on the door.

"Oh hey", Ben said as he answered the door with a smile. "You realize it's Tuesday not Wednesday right?"

"Yes, but I kinda need the gauntlets right now! Please?" Chase asked urgently.

"What's the rush?" Ben questioned.

"Don't have much time to talk, sorry. Now, where are they? The gauntlets", Chase asked in a hurry.

"There over there, but I should really teach you how to-"

"Thanks Ben!" Chase yelled as he ran out the door sliding the gauntlets onto his arms.

"use them", Ben said finishing his sentence.

* * *

"I'll start tracking them, since I'm a tracker!" Amy yelled as she finished loading herself up with mounds and mounds of glass shards. She then realized no one was there.

Kao and I had already set out. Everyone took their own paths.

* * *

"Hey! What are your doing!"? Chase demanded as he swung his arms down. Blades slid out smoothly and quickly. His gauntlets were about 1 cm thick and the blade was about 1 foot long and double sided. The black metallic metal reflected the moon light brightly. The black blades, rested out of the gauntlets, sleek and ready for battle, waited patiently for their turn; their turn to attack.

"I wouldn't be worried about why I'm here", the Shadow Tamer smirked as he pointed over to another man.


	19. Levaste Extra 1

**Levaste Extra 1: Kao and the Mirror**

* * *

"Kao, go wash your face! You've got dirt all over it!" Alice yelled,

"(sigh) fine", Kao said as he moped to the bathroom.

As Kao walked into the bathroom, he suddenly realized there was mirror.

"How you doin' ", Kao asked himself in the mirror with a Joe' accent from 'Friends'.

"No! I asked you first!" Kao yelled at himself in the mirror.

"Is that a Challenge?" Kao challenged himself.

"What! You dare challenge me!"

"How dare you!"

"No how dare you!"

"No!"

"You're making me angry!"

"No! I'm Angry at you, you can't be angry at me!"

"Are you mocking me!"

"I'm not mocking you! You're mocking me!"

"You're mocking me again!"

"That's it! _Fire Akurei Tsume!"_

"You have one too!"

ARGGHHHHHHH, Kao yelled as he shoved his spear into the mirror. The mirror shattered.

"That's what I thought!"

"How are you still talking!"


	20. On the Brink of Disaster

"_(Huff! Huff!)_Where could she have gone?" I asked myself. Running down endless streets, making the most of my breathes at the time, I looked for Alice.

As I ran down a little further, a man stepped out in my way. His tall lurking body wasn't as intimidating as he'd meant it to be. I stopped, hoping he'd move on out of the way, but he just stood there staring at me with his dark shades on. As I stared back, he was starting to look familiar.

"I can't let you go this way", He muttered out as tiny silver slivers flew from all over to his hands, forming two daggers.

"ARGGHHHHH!" I roared out as I charged the man, Splinter. My sword shimmered in the life of the night.

"I told you, you weren't the only one who could control Silver", he said as he tripped me.

I rolled to the side upon digging my shoulder into the ground to avoid Splinter's dagger as it drove into the ground inches away from me. I crawled away, regaining my ground. I readied my sword. Splinter quickly charged at me with an evil look in his eyes. Then I remembered Reina, she had the same deathly look in her eyes. It was if they were... different people now.

His daggers swung at me faster than I could keep up with. They were just blurs in my face, rapidly moving about. I backed up constantly trying to guard myself with my sword. The sound of metal scrapping metal pierced my ears.

I ducked down, avoiding his daggers, and slashed at his legs. He jumped over with extreme speed. He continued to slash at me. I swung my sword in the midst of his action. My sword was rejected momentarily. He moved so fast and didn't even break a sweat.

"What's the matter, can't get through?" Splinter chuckled.

* * *

"GRRR!" Chase growled out as he ran towards the Shadow Tamer with his black bladed gauntlets. As Chase approached him, Chase shot his fist forward at the Shadow Tamer face. But as the punch landed against his cheek, the blade was gone. Chase's eye lit up in confusion. The Shadow Tamer stumbled to the ground.

Chase looked to his gauntlet. There was a chain extending from it to the blade, which was now in a tree about 20 yards away.

"SHADOW INTEGRATION!" The man yelled. This time his integration was different. His right arm was black and muscular; it also almost had a metallic look to it. Shadows dripped off of his arm.

"HYAAA!" The man yelled as he returned the punch to Chase's face. Chase soared through the air, and not with with his wings. The strength in the Shadow Tamer's arm was immense. But as Chase soared, something stopped; it was almost as if something pin lined him, from his arm.

The chain ,from his gauntlet to his blade, had reached it's extension limit. Chase dropped to the floor harshly. His face got a bit of road rash and his side was slightly bruised up. As Chase got up, his wings ached. He looked up to see the Shadow Tamer charging at him.

Out of reaction, Chase snagged on the chain. It came loose easily and started to re-ravel itself back up and as it did Chase swirled it around in a figure eight motion. The movement just came momentarily and natural. As the Shadow Tamer came about ten feet away, so did the end of the chain; the black blade. Chase, finishing his third figure eight, slammed his wings hard against the air, shooting himself in the air, and slammed the chain whip down on the Shadow Tamer.

Gravel flew through the air as the loud crash of the Chain Whip crashed against the Shadow Tamer, shoving him into the ground.

* * *

'_Wait a sec!' _I thought.

As splinter swung his daggers frantically, I stood there. Splinter brought his daggers upon me, one across my chest and one across my throat. But as he did the metal bent around me, leaving not a scratch. The daggers reformed as they left contact from my body. I reacted, quickly swinging my sword across his chest. My sword formed its way around Splinters body back into a sword. Nothing happened. Splinter shoved his fist into my chin; I fell and scurried away from him.

Both our weapons, were useless against each other.

"I was wondering when you were gonna figure that out and you know what, you and I aren't too different", Splinter chuckled.

Splinter began to charge at me and as he did I looked and noticed a man hole beneath me. As Splinter approached me, I slapped both my hands in a forward downward motion on the man hole metal cover. A metal spike shot up from the man hole cover, piercing Splinter in the chest. The spike lifted him up and backwards a bit into the air.

He grabbed a hold of the spike, to realize it wasn't silver. Blood slid down the spike to the ground onto my hands. He smiled as he started to cough up blood. I glared at him as he hung there helplessly. I looked back down at the ground to catch my breath.

"Your wrong. You and I are very different, in many ways such as this. You can only bend silver, I can bend metal. I have a reason to fight, you don't. The list goes on", I stated. I looked up as Splinter heaved his last breath. Blood slowly continued to drizzle from his lip. I stood up and removed my hands; the spike sank back in to it's original form and Splinters lifeless body dropped to the floor.

* * *

"Is that the best you got?" The Shadow Tamer said challenging Chase. Suddenly the Tamer, pointed his arm out at Chase and fired a blast of … something. Chase assumed it was shadow or darkness; they seemed the same to Chase.

Chase froze as the blast came closer. He wanted to move, but his bat wings flapped in their same motions holding him still in the air. As the blast neared closer, someone shoved Chase to the side; Chase skid on the gravel. Chase looked up to see a man. The man, more like a teenage boy, held out his left arm to the blast. A handle of some sort popped out quickly. The person grabbed a hold of it with his right hand. A second blast came from the person arm. Chase then realized it was also a mechanical arm.

"Ben!" Chase exclaimed!

The plasma blast from Ben's arm neutralized the blast from the Shadow Tamers. The Ben and the S. Tamer stared at each other. The Tamers snarl was met by a smile from Ben.

"Go! I'll take care of him", Ben said softly. Chase looked over to the other man who was standing there in awe of the battle. The man suddenly hopped in the van he was standing next to and drove off.

"Oh! Not on my watch!" Chase proclaimed as he took flight after the white van.

* * *

Glass slithers flew through the air into the side of a black van. Amy ran to the side of the van as it started moved forward, she hopped on the glass shards which stuck out of the side of the van. She pulled out a long thicker glass shard and stabbed it into the van; she yanked down on the sharp shard, tearing open the side of the van. She did this several times until a piece of the van fell off that she could fit through.

She squeezed herself through quietly and carefully, watching not to cut herself. As she got in, she tripped over something. She looked back to see what it was. The van was full of kids and teenagers of all ages. She quickly scanned the crowd, looking for Alice.

"Alice!" Amy screamed out as she stared into Alice's eyes, which were full of terror. Alice's hands were hog tied behind her, her mouth taped shut, and her ankles shackled by some metal device. Amy noticed bruises and cuts all over her. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here." Amy whispered.

"HEY! No talking", the driver of the van yelled back as he slid open a small window and closed it quickly. "Wait a tic? Their mouths are all taped!" the driver said as he slid the window open again. Amy had barely escaped out of view back outside the van, holding on as the van speed faster and faster.

Still holding onto the glass shards, Amy swung her foot into the passenger window, shattering it. Amy leaped to hop onto the edge of the window and take it from there, but as she did her foot didn't quite make it to the ledge of the window. She slid down the passenger door; she caught herself with her arms and as she did the glass snagged on he skin, tearing. Blood painted he arm and the side of the van.

As the window smashed and Amy hung there by here forearms, the driver pulled out a 12 gauge fully loaded shot gun. Amy's head poked up just enough for the driver to see. The driver pointed it at Amy's head; his finger slid onto the trigger and pulled. The sound of the shot gun scared everyone in the van including Amy. Amy looked up, realizing that she wasn't dead or hurt, besides her arms, to see a hole through the door right next to where she hung and a spear through the man's hand. The shot gun rested on the seat.

Kao finished off the other window, scattering the glass onto the drivers lap. Kao shoved his knee and fist into the man's face and gut. The driver leaned over for the shot gun, but was stopped as Amy knocked it over further away from him as she climbed into the van. She felt the pain in her arm, but gave it no attention. She had other things to worry about.

Kao slammed his elbow into the drivers head. The driver slipped into unconsciousness quickly. Kao kicked open the door, while shoving the driver out. Neither Amy nor Kao looked back to check on the driver. Kao slid into the drivers seat and took the wheel. He pressed his foot against the break harshly, he would of pressed it gently and slowly, but Chase was on his hands and knees heaving and coughing up blood in the middle of the road.

* * *

**Chaison your awesomeness shows off in the next chapter!**

**_REFERRALS!_**

**1: Icarus, by Chaison**

**2: Secrets, by That Girl Laura**

**3: Infinite Darkness, by Lonely Ueki  
**


	21. Nolstalgic Death

"Oh! Not on my watch!" Chase proclaimed as he took flight after the white van.

The tires spun out, leaving skid marks on the road, as the van peeled away at high speed. Chases bat wings flapped against the cold breeze and the wind beat against his face, providing a constant soothing chill. Luckily for him, the weather was perfect flying weather; a steady breeze and a smooth tail wind. What more could a bat ask for, right?

Thoughts raced through Chases mind reading mind as he thought of a way to catch up to the van, which was slowly but surely pulling away from him. The doors on the back of the van constantly jerked, trying to free itself from the the locks which bond it together. The smell of rubber, filled the air more and more as the van out drove Chase.

_'Wait a sec!' Chase thought to himself 'Ben said his arm was based on brain waves, which means mine is more than likely too be also!'_

Chase imagined recreating his battle scene from moments before. Chase lunged his left fist forward, black blades out and all, and as he did the blade shot out on a chain, like a grappling hook digging itself into it's target. The blade of his gauntlet dug into the left back door of the van and as it did Chase was jerked forward in midair.

Chase retracted the chain in, zip lining himself to the van. He landed against the back of the van harshly as he slammed his head into it, but that wasn't the only thing he'd hit his head on in his life. Obviously he still had a lot of getting used to with the chain whip and all.

Chase slashed down his right black blade swiftly on the lock, binding the doors together. The moment the blade finished sawing through the lock, the door violently swung open; flinging Chase back off the van. As Chase whirled through the air behind the van, he shot out both chain whips at the van. The blades clung to the floor of the van. The doors continued to flap ferociously in the wind as the van moved on.

Chase pulled himself back into the van, he noticed something nudge his leg. He jumped out of fear, but not to far, for fear of falling out of the van unprepared. His eyes shot down, his gauntlets ready for battle. A small child lay on the ground nudging his leg with its head. It's hands were bond behind it's back and it's ankles shackled by something. The kid's mouth was taped shut.

Then Chase looked around to realize there wasn't just one kid; there was at least 20 kids there tied up and bound against their will. As Chase turned around, there was one teenager who managed to get up and was trying to cut the rope around his wrist by rubbing it against Chase's gauntlets. Chase cut the rope himself for the person.

As soon as the rope snapped, the teenage boy tore off the rubber gloves on his hands, which was pinned beneath the rope, and set his bare hand on the metal shackles on his feet. Steam, steam started protrude away from the teenage boys hand and shackles. As the steam lifted, the shackles slowly disappeared and as they did the boy ripped the tape from his mouth and took in a deep breathe. Being kidnapped in a van crowded with other kids who had been kidnapped, must have been hard to breath. The smell of sweat and fear along with the oxygen continually depleting would have made it hard for anyone to breath.

Without even looking back to thank Chase or anything, the kid jumped to his feet, shuffled through the crowd, and made his way to the front of the van. A wall and a small sliding window stood between the driver and the kids. The teenage boy lit a grin upon his face and slammed the palm of his right hand to the wall directly behind the driver. The smell of burning metal filled the air, as the metal started to liquefy and drip down the wall.

_'What are you doing! We've gotta get these kids out of here first!' Chase thought to the teenage boy._

"Stay out of my mind", the boy simply stated as he stared back at Chase.

Chase leaped over some kid and made his way to the teenage boy. Chase grabbed the boys shoulder and as he did the boys left arm thrust backwards against Chase's chest, sending Chase to the edge of the van. Chase's slid to the edge as he feet slid off the edge. His legs dangled in midair as the van sped onward. Chase struggled to climb his way back up, without letting his feet or legs touch the ground and tear off. When Chase finally gained his footing, the scream of the driver filled the air around.

The boy had managed to burn his hand through the wall and the seat in less than a minute. His hand took a firm grip on the driver's neck. The obvious extreme heat emitting from the boys hand singed into the rough skin of the driver. The burn sent intense pain through the driver's body, creating a jerking motion with his hands as he clenched tightly to the wheel yanking it to the left as hard as possible.

The van jerked violently as it spun to the left, but carried on in a forward motion. And as it did, the vans balance was thrown off, sending it barrel rolling through the street. Kids rolled through out the van, ducking and covering their heads as much as possible and doing whatever they could to protect themselves. The boy, with heat extreme hands, was thrown and tossed about the van.

He reacted upon revenge without thinking of the consequences. As Chase rolled about also, he noticed one small child, probably about 7 years old or so, roll his way out of the van. Chase stood up despite the barrel rolls, and ran forward from the wall to the floor to the wall again as the van rolled. Chase snagged a hold of the child the moment before he hit the pavement. The dark gravel buried its way into Chase's back, as he gripped tight to the child with his arms.

As the van continued, so did traffic. Several cars collided with the van. The sound of metal scraping metal and the smell of burning rubber, crept into the inner most part of everyone around. Screams filled the air, as people rushed to the scene of the accident.

Chase managed to stand up as he held the child in his arms. The crowd cheered at his heroic act, , but he wasn't all too thrilled. He freed the child and ran to the van. As Chase approached the van, the teenage boy, who'd caused all of this havoc, came crawling out. He had a large gash across his side, from where a plate of metal had made contact. His side was completely painted in his own blood.

"I had a reason for my doing this", the boy stated as his face rapidly lost color. He turned paler and paler every minute. "I can't let 'them' take these kids. It's better for them to die than to become lab rats. It's better for all of us."

"But that's not your decision to make!" Chase proclaimed as he knelt by the kid and looked around at all the hurt children. Tears started to fall to the ground; a puddle of tears formed out of Chase's sorrow. Blood stained the face of many children, which were either unconscious, dead, or suffering intense pains. Cries of pain pierced pierced the ears around.

"Someone had to make a decision, so I did. Don't let my act die out in vain! I did this for all of us!"

"There's other ways to go about it! You risked everyone's lives for your own selfish desires! Now come on we've gotta get you out of here", Chase said.

"Get everyone ….else out of ...here ….first", the kid said breathing heavy trying to grasp onto his last breaths of air., "I'll only ….hold you ...back." His face had lost nearly all of it's color and the blood pouring out of his side had slowed down. Chase had never really witnessed someone pass away; Not someone dying, but someone passing away. The final moment when someone's breathe was snatched away from them on their deathbed in a 'nostalgic sense'.

Chase nodded and slid his hand across his face, trying to no longer disperse tears. He didn't know why, but tears still fell from his eyes to the blood stained asphalt. Chase stood up and turned to go help the other kids.

"OH! How I hate nostalgic endings!" A new voice spoke out. The voice rang a familiar tone in Chase's ears.


	22. An Unwanted Memory

"Hello Chase", the voice said subtly.

"What are you doing here!" Chase demanded.

"Oh me? I've always taken first hand interest in my packages." The man said with a smirk.

"I... know. Which is why I have to kill you now", Chase said as he reminisced about something. His eyes were filled with horror. "No...no...stop...mom..." Chase whispered to himself quietly as a flashback played through his mind repeatedly.

"Now then if you'll quietly step aside, we can all get on with our business", the man chuckled as he started to walk around Chase.

"STOP!" Chase demanded the man. The man froze immediately, without hesitation.

"Am I sensing a different presence from you now?" The man asked. Chase shook himself and grasped back into reality. Without even realizing it, he'd almost tapped into L.E.O.

"I can't let you touch them. If you leave now, I won't kill you." Chase offered.

"Oh It's not me you should be worried about", the man said with a snicker as kid about Chase's size and age walked up. The two boys glared at each other. Chase's glare was intense, while the other boys was simple and unchanging. The other boy showed no emotion. His face remained blank.

The boy stood there motionless. There were two small poles sticking out from the boys back(not in his back, on his back). It looked as though he had two swords. The boy walked between chase and the man; standing directly in the center between them.

"Can't fight your own? Huh?" Chase antagonized with anger.

"Actually, I have other things to worry about. But for now just be a good boy and play with Braille, will ya", the man said walking away.

"Braille?"

"Yes. He's blind and mute, you see. He had no name, so I named him."

"You're a sick man, Doc., too prey on the weak and use them to do your will." Chase said shaking his head in sadness.

"Well I see your still as impudent as ever, showing no respect to your elders! Well I'm done conversing on any matter with you! Braille, have fun with him." The man growled out as he walked away towards the van.

"Get back here you Cowardly Murderer! I'll kill you!" Chase screamed charging towards Doc. As he did, Braille stepped in front of him. Chase stopped in his tracks.

_'I can't let you do that' Braille thought to Chase._

_'You can talk through your thoughts too!' Chase exclaimed mentally even though his face made an outward expression._

_'It's actually called 'Telepathic Speech'.' Braille thought as his face made no facial expression. _

_'Move or I'll kill you!' Chase demanded. _

_'Move and I'll kill you' Braille responded. _

Chase became quickly enraged. He slammed his gauntlets on the air beside him. His black blades slid out swiftly and smooth. His arms hung beside/ behind him as his wings flared out. It looked as though Chase was getting ready for flight or something of the sort. His knees bent, head tilted.

Braille stood there until finally he reached for the items poking over his shoulders. Chase had been anticipating what his weapons would be the entire time. As Braille gripped the handles and lifted the weapons over his shoulders, Chase's jaw dropped in confusion.

"FRYING PANS! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Chase yelled in confusion.

As Chase yelled, the boy copied Chase's motion swing his frying pans beside him in one swift movement backwards. Upon finishing his swing, spikes broke through the sides of the frying pan.

"Okay that's better, Dual Frying Pan Maces. I see you've met Ben then", Chase chuckled out with a smile. Even in the rough times, Chase can always find a way to laugh.

"ARGGGHH!" Chase yelled as he sprinted forward towards Braille. Braille returned the favor by sprinting towards Chase.

Chase lunged both of his blades forward. They were met by Braille's mace's. The four weapons clashed continually, as Chase and Braille swung and lunged their weapons at each other. Chase moved in to stab Braille through arm. Braille quickly back stepped slammed Chase's gauntlet down with his Frying Pan Mace. Chase's arm jerked down to the ground as his gauntlet became pinned between the asphalt and a Frying Pan.

Braille, despite being blind and all, could fight extremely well. He was obviously relying on his sense of hearing.

Braille forced down his free mace upon Chase as hard as he could. Chase moved his free arm just in time. The mace crashed into Chase's Gauntlet. Sparks from the metal flew all around every time Chase's Gauntlets and Braille's Maces clashed. Finally Chase Shot out his Chain Whip to the nearest tree. Chase zip lined in towards the tree and as he did he snagged a hold of Braille's leg.

Braille dropped to the floor and skid across the asphalt. He gripped onto his Maces, while he kicked off Chase's hand. Chase unhooked his Chain Whip from the tree retracting it in, and stood up relieved to be free the mace pinning his gauntlet down. Chase glanced up to see Braille's mace crashing through the air on a ...CHAIN! Like Chase's Chain Whip, Braille had a Chain Mace!

Chase dove to the side as Chain Mace cracked the the asphalt where Chase stood moments before. The shocked expression on Chase's face, gave Braille time to attack again. Braille leaped through the air, swinging both his Chain Mace's in opposing figure eight motions. As he came to land on his feet again, he slammed one mace over Chase and the other across Chase horizontally. Chase gathered himself together just in time. He reacted without thinking, once again, Chase blasted out his left Chain Whip towards the Chain Mace that was crashing overhead. Chase slammed his wings against the air and leaped into the air avoiding the horizontal attacking Chain Mace.

The blade of Chase's Chain Whip, which he'd already shot out, screeched against the metal of the the chain on Braille's Chain Mace. Chase's Chain Whip dug itself into a metal light pole, while also pinning the Chain Mace to it.

Braille grew angry over this, but solved the problem quickly.

_'Fortunately for me , I have an advantage in this battle. Your weapons are a part of you, while mine are simply an accessory' Braille thought to Chase grinning as he simply let go of the pinned Chain Mace. _

_'Fortunately for me, I have an advantage in this battle also. Your weapons are merely an accessory of you, while mine are actually a part of me. Meaning I can't be deprived of my weapons as you have been.' Chase grinned back. The grin on Braille's face washed away quickly. _

Braille gripped his last Chain Mace tightly, while he retracted it in. He charged Chase, while releasing his Chain Mace out. The Chain Mace crashed against the ground in a dirt lot next to the road, as Chase rolled forward out of the way. Gravel and dust filled the air.

Despite Braille being blind, the smoke seemed to somehow blind his sense of hearing; his only way of living. Chase realized this quickly and took advantage of it. Chase went moved through the smoke stealthily. Finally Chase moved in for his attack, he cocked his fist back ready to jab his blade into Braille's heart, and as he did Braille regained his sense of hearing. Chase had taken to long to make his move.

Braille swung his Chain Mace wildly all around as soon as Chase attacked. The mace spun its way into Chase's stomach. The spikes of the Frying Pan Chain Mace tore into Chase's stomach. The Chain Mace carried Chase through the air and tossed him and as it did, it tore more skin off of his stomach.

Chase crashed to the ground violently. He laid there trying to get up as blood spilled out of his stomach. He managed to bring himself to his knees, while holding himself up with on arm and the other arm pressed firm against his stomach. Chase started to cough up masses of blood as he strained himself to just kneel. He wouldn't give Braille the satisfaction he wanted; the satisfaction to see his defeat.

Just then a van screeched ahead as it headed for Chase. The smell of burning rubber filled the air as the driver of the van slammed his foot to the brake. Chase looked up to see Kao driving and Amy in the passenger.

Amy ran to Chase immediately. Chase quickly noticed the blood dripping from her arms.

"You're hurt...", Chase managed.

"I'm fine, your not. What happened?" Amy asked.

"I got hit"

"With what?" Amy pleaded.

Chase pointed in the direction of Braille as he coughed up more blood. Amy looked in the direction Chase pointed to, but there was nothing or no one there. Chase was trying to keep his grip on reality, but was quickly losing it. Amy's voice grew fainter by the moment. It wasn't long before his arm gave way, dropping him to the floor. Chase quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

_'Shall I retrieve our final prize, Master? Braille thought to Doc._

"No our work here is done. It's their turn now."


	23. S18

"Chase!" I yelled running down the street frantically. Chase laid on the ground, sprawled out on his side in a pool of blood. His clothes were soaked with sweat and blood. Dirt was smeared across his face. His tattered, scraped up wings were bent crooked. He had cuts and sores all over his body. His gauntlets were massively scratched up and one blade was still out. He looked as though he got jumped by a gang or something.

His body had been dragged aside, by someone and hidden behind a bush on a grass patch near a dirt lot. Sirens wailed in the background. The police and ambulance's were already well on their way by now. Despite the horrid scenery behind me, of an extreme car accident, there wasn't even a crowd. Not a person in sight actually.

"Chase!" I yelled as approached him. He didn't move.

I crouched down beside him. "Chase?" No response.

I rolled him over on to his back. His stomach was tore open, though it looked as though it had already started to heal. His chest barely moved as his body inhaled and exhaled air. His eyes fluttered rapidly; he was dreaming. I wondered what bat's dream of, though I'm sure he dreamt normal cause' he's half human and all.

I picked up his weak and injured body and carried him in my arms. He was surprisingly a lot lighter than I'd expected him to be, though I never actually thought about how heavy he was or thought how it would be to carry Chase. Awkward.

I carried Chase as I walked down the streets. I tried to stay on side streets to avoid being seen. It would not have looked good walking down the street carrying a half bat kid who looked dead. I was aiming to make it to the Base without being seen, but that obviously didn't work out as someone started to towards me from up ahead. I would've tried hiding, but their was no time.

As the person continued to walk towards Chase and I, I noticed something sticking out of his arm which looked like a blade of some sort. He had a gauntlet or something. Then I realized it was a sword sticking out of his gauntlet. I had no idea what this person's intentions were. I quickly, but gently set down Chase and summoned my sword. My necklace jumped from my neck, liquified itself in midair, and solidified itself into a sword as it reached my hand.

I readied my sword, taking position to fight. I took my stance and stood my ground as the person approached. The person's face was covered, so I couldn't tell who they were. They only had one gauntlet on their left arm, that covered their entire arm, and their sword was sleek and long.

They attacked without hesitation. Judging by the force behind the swing, it was a man. I quickly brought up my sword to block. The two swords clashed against each other harshly. The eerie sound of metal slashing against metal pierced the air around.

I slashed back at the man diagonally downward, aiming for his chest, death was no longer an option for me. I had to save Alice. He simply side stepped, avoiding my attack, then lunged his sword forward. I batted it down with the hilt of my sword. I raised my Silver shifting Necklace, sword and forced it down with one hand on the handle and the other on the back of the blade. My sword clanged against the ground as the man maneuvered quickly around me and slammed his elbow into my back. I dropped to the floor.

And as the man decided to carry out the final blow, he jumped over me, the tip of his sword pointed down at my stomach. I curled myself together in a ball as fast as I could and sprang up, shoving myself off the ground as hard as possible. As I rocketed through the short length of room I had between me and the sword, I spun, midair, next to it. I watched as the blade passed me, coming short off less than an inch. It all happened fast, but a controllable rate. I could still tell what was going on.

I looked up as I brought my elbow up above my head. The face a familiar teenage boy was revealed as the wind of his down coming tore it off. Despite who it was, I carried on with the attack. My elbow dug into the jaw of the man. Blood shot out of his mouth as he dropped to the floor. My sword was press firmly to the man's throat as I landed on top of him.

"What the hell is this about!" I demanded.

"I had to make sure you were ready", Ben replied. I wasn't sure whether to trust him or not after that. I got off of him and jumped back quickly. I still had my sword raised.

"So you hide your face and randomly attack me?" I asked in confusion.

"I covered my face, because if I didn't you would've thought of me to be a traitor. And at this point you wouldn't have trusted me", Ben said rubbing his neck in the area where I'd pressed my blade into his neck. There was a small cut on his neck where my sword was; small trickles of blood rolled down.

He had a point.

"Did I pass, then?"

"No."

"No? WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO!"

"I mean you failed my test." Ben replied as he worked out his Robotic arm.

"How did I fail! I beat you!" I exclaimed.

"It wasn't to see if you could defeat me."

"Huh? Then what was it for?"

"Where's Kao?" Ben said changing the topic.

"I don't know. I haven't seen Amy either." I said.

"Amy?"

"She joined our team the other day. We met her back in the woods." I said as I intentionally let my guard. My sword, liquified, and squirmed it's way up my arm into the shape of a Necklace around my neck.

"Pink scarf girl?"

"Yeah, why?"

"She's working for 'them'! With 'them'!" Ben emphasized.

"Phantom Heart?"

"No! Well... yes! S-18!"

"Ben, what are you talking about?" I asked in confusion.

"S-18 is Phantom Heart!" Ben yelled.

"WHAT!"

"A few decades ago Phantom Heart was shut down, though their actions were still being carried out. Levast all around the world believed the U.S. Government was harboring them, wars have even started because this, but I'll get into that some other time. When the truth broke out, Phantom Heart wasn't being harbored by anyone. In fact, they'd become their own private sector in not just our government, but in governments all around the world; U.S., China, Russia, Germany, Canada, and many other governments." Ben explained, "Governments all around the world quickly shut up this so called rumor, by killing off anyone who was involved or anyone who knew anything about it!"

"How come the haven't killed you?" I questioned with concern as my attention was caught.

"They tried, and they will surely try again."

"Amy?"

Ben nodded in agreement.

_'Well no one ever said the 6 trials were the 6 assassins. Amy could be an assassin carrying out her duty, by first gaining our trust. So 5 Trials, 4 assassins down and 1 possible traitor discovered. What else?' I thought to myself. _

"My parents can take care of Chase for now, until he heals." Ben said.

"Thanks, because I've gotta Find Kao and go after Phan-... S-18", I said sincerely.

"We've gotta go after S-18." Ben said with a smile of reassurance.

* * *

_**My Top 3 Favorite Levaste Characters!**_

_** 1st: Chase!**_

_**2nd: Braille!  
**_

_**3rd: Alice!**_


	24. Half A Memory

"Mom", I said peeking my head into the hospital room? There was silence. I slipped through the cracked door. The sheets on the bed were messed up, and the glass of milk sitting on the tray next to the bed was fresh. My eye's circled the room. My mom stood by, leaning against the window which had condensation dripping down. Her face was pressed against the window. As she lifted her face to turn around and look at me, drops of water ran down the window where her cheeks were.

"Hi", I said calmly. Her soft smile soothed my roused, angered spirit.

"What are you doing here?" My mother replied. It wasn't exactly the response I was looking for. She still had a smile on her face though.

"I came to say hi. I haven't been by in a few days; Sorry, I've kinda been busy."

"School work?" She asked.

"Ugghhh... Yeah."

"Really? Cause' your school tells a different story."

"Mom... I..."

"Garret, I know."

"You do?" I asked.

"Phantom Heart?"

"(sigh)... yeah", I replied with relief.

"I know a lot more than you think I do." My mom said with a smirk.

"Then you'll understand that I'm going to be gone for a while."

"Garret; your not ready."

"For what?" I asked, considering the fact that this was the second time I had been told this.

"Come back alive", she said with a smile as she gently shoved me towards the door. Great! I just got kicked out and FOR WHAT!

* * *

The door of Ben's house opened smoothly and without noise unlike Team Starlight's base.

"Garret." Ben said with a frowning grin, " A few things, I looked for Kao and Amy; no sign of either one of them. Second,I think it's best that you stay here till your ready. I'm leaving in the morning and I'm going alone."

"THE HELL I AM! AND READY FOR WHAT! WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP TELLING ME THAT!"

Ben looked up and sighed at me. "I had a feeling you were gonna say that." I felt the sting of a cold hard abrasive metal arm slid its way across my face, as Ben swung his arm.

* * *

"Where's Ben!" I asked frantically as I awoke in a new room. The bed was soft and comfy. The pillows were fluffy than ever. Sun light beamed through the one crack in the beige curtains. Air freshener filled the air in the room. A vacuum crackled repeatedly as dirt and trash was sucked up.

I slipped out of bed, to see who it was and to find out where I was.

"Oh your awake", A lady said, "Ben said you'd taken quite a hit yesterday."

"Oh did he? Where is he?" I asked rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Oh how rude of me. I'm Mary, Ben's mom, and he left last night. He said he was going to find someone or something of the sort."

"Crap! He said he was leaving in the morning! Now I'll never catch up to him!" I proclaimed loudly.

"Not without me, you won't", a voice said confidently from down the hall.

"Chase! You shouldn't be walking; your still hurt."

"I'm fine and if we work together … you know as a team, we might be able to reach Phantom Heart." Chase said with a smile. His arms, wings, and stomach were bandaged up.

"Chase, we don't even know how to get there."

"You don't, but I do!" His eye's squinted as he smiled bigger and his wings tried to spread.

"You know how to get to Phantom Heart?"

"My mom didn't really die the way I made it sound and it wasn't a half hour after I was born either. It was about when I was five. When I was just a baby bat in my mommies tummy, the doctors realized something was wrong or at least different. Word got sent to the government, that she would have to give birth unnaturally. The government most kindly took her in and helped her... NOT! My mom knew the government wasn't there to help her, but to experiment on me. My mom tried to run away, but they detained her. "

"Doc ended up helping her escape and helped her give birth to her mutant child; me. When I was born I had deathly low blood sugar, so ever since then I've had to had to eat whatever sugarous foods or candy I could get a hold, but anyway. My mom never let me leave her sight. So Doc waited for the perfect moment. My mom knew she couldn't trust him or anyone for that much. During those five years, he sat there observing similarities and differences and the pro's and cons of being... whatever I am.

Finally he got sick of waiting and turned my mom in, as he kidnapped me. Since he worked for the government, he had access to me and my mom. He got curious and wanted to know how it was possible that a human had given birth to a …. an... anima child. "

"Being the leader of the whole project to start with, he had full access to everything, including my mom. He experimented on her, tortured her until she died. The thing is she never died, instead she'd tapped into L.E.O. As her last resort. But the craziest thing is that she didn't have a Levaste."

"She came looking for me. She killed whoever she could, speaking from the fact that she was in L.E.O.

But she somehow kept her sense of reality and of her mission. She could control her L.E.O. She knew who she needed to protect and who she needed to kill, Doc being one of them. By the time she'd found me, Doc had also."

"Being one with the government, Doc had resources and men. It wasn't long before they over took her with all their sniper rifles and AK-47's. It was their playground; they had home field advantage. I didn't get to see her in action for the most part. When she got to me she told me to run, to run as far away from her as I could. Now that I think about it, she wasn't just protecting me from the government, but also from herself. No one can completely control L.E.O."

Chase's eye were watery as if he wanted to cry. I could tell the memories were painful. His body tensed as he told the story. Goose bumps rolled up his arms. His wings tucked themselves in. I could tell he was still holding something back in.

"So your sure you remember the way?"

"No... but I've been there!" Chase exclaimed with excitement. I was amazed at how quickly he could change his mood. Maybe it was how easily distracted he was.

"WHAT! What do you mean you don't remember? You just said you knew the way!" I yelled as my stress came back.

"I don't know... I thought I remembered. Well if you think about it, I know I just can't remember; cause' the brain records everything you do. We've gotta hurry up and save Alice."

"Great now your smart..." I sighed.

"Well I ran away by foot. Using my other method of transportation would have been too noticeable. Had I flown I would have definitely remembered the way."

"Syulee!" I yelled.

"What?" Chase asked.

"Syulee!" I yelled again

"What is it?" Chase asked.

"It's a who. Splinter mentioned him during our first battle." I said as I started to raise my voice.

"First battle?"

"I'll tell you about that some other time; but this Syulee person might be our key to Phantom Heart!"

"So how do we find this Syulee person?" Chase questioned.

"Through the only person we know that can get us underground information."

"_Mr. Schneider?_" Chase responded.

"My geology teacher?" I said.

"Ya!" Chase said with a smile.

"NO! Try Gerard!"

"Well you said underground..."

I gave Chase a blank stare. My plain faced stare was matched by his natural plain faced stare. Several moments passed by until I decided to quite.

"Yes!" Chase mumbled.

"What", I asked?

"I won!" Chase said smiling. I simply ignored him.

"Chase, what's that leaking out of you pockets", I asked?

"Huh? OH! … that... It's my …. medicine." He responded. White gritty stuff that looked like salt seeped out of his pocket every time he moved. I looked at the stuff, then at Chase, then at the White salt looking stuff, and finally at Chase again.

"YOU STOLE THEIR SUGAR!" I exclaimed.

"Shhhh!" Chase said leaping at me, trying to cover my mouth, "I told you I had deathly low blood sugar. I ran out! I had to!"

"So what have you been doing before this after all your sugar got eaten/ stolen?"

Chase grinned out a smile, "funny story..."

"You've been stealing other people's sugar!"

"No, well yes but no one had bought it yet so it's okay. It was fresh of the truck!"

"You stole stolen sugar! That's...that's like double robbery." I whispered with a fierce tone.

"It wasn't really fresh off the truck... well it was but not like that. There was truck of sugar delivering it to a store and I figured if I could get a hold of it, that it would last me a while."

"Okay, so where did you put it?"

* * *

"Hey, Gerard where are we supposed to put all this sugar?"

"Put it in the storage sheds on block C."

"Are you sure? He's already filled 2 storage units... FULL OF SUGAR!"

* * *

"Chase... What do you think I'm not ready for?" I asked.

"You only use half your power." Chase replied.

"What do you mean? How do you know?"

"You've gotta learn to use you full power and fight with reason."

"I have a reason."

"Not good enough."

"What do you mean? My mom is most definitely worth it!" I yelled.

"No. You need something stronger to push you, a girl perhaps?" Chase said with a grin. We both looked at each other and laughed.

"Garret, why do you stay? Why do stay and fight? We all have a reason to fight. On a normal circumstance your father's death would be your reason, but there's more to it this time."

"I... I... I don't know." I said softly.

"Those are the reasons why your not ready."


	25. Levaste Extra 2 Sugar Anonymous

"Hi Chase", Alice said with a large smile.

"Umm... hi?" Chases responded softly as he licked his sugar coated, sugar packed ice cream. It was starting to melt down he side of the sugar frosted cone. Ice cream is fine, but this ice cream probably had about 4 times the amount of sugar Chase needed even with his health condition.

"Hi", Alice said again.

"You can't have my ice cream", Chase stated as he started to lick it faster. Alice stared at him; Chase stared back. Alice continued to stare; Chase continued to stare. They both stared at each other relentlessly. It was the most intense staring contest of the year!

"HA! You blinked!" Chase proclaimed in victory!

"Hi, Chase", Alice said once again.

"Oookay. You are officially starting to creep me out."

"I just wanted to give you something." Alice stated.

"Umm... someone... help me?" Chase whispered.

"Gosh, Chase chill out. I just wanted to give you this", Alice said handing Chase a pamphlet.

"What is it?"

"Read it", Alice said.

"I don't wanna", Chase remarked.

"Read it." Alice said with an intense tone.

"Okay... your going to the scary side again..."

"Chase, read the pamphlet."

"(sigh) Fine... Sugar Anonymous?"

Alice smiled.

"I'm not going..."

"Oh yes you are."

"I have to eat sugar! It's my life source!"

"True." Alice replied.

"True?" Chase remarked.

"But you don't need that much sugar."

"I'm not going."

Alice smiled once more; Chase tried to force out a smile, but instead forced out a grin.

* * *

"Hello Everyone. Welcome to Sugar's Anonymous."

"Why doesn't someone start off by telling us their name and addiction."

"Hi I'm Brendan and I have a sugar addiction."

"Hi I'm Jordan and I have a sugar addiction."

"Hi I'm Bryce and I have a sugar addiction."

"Hi I'm Jonathan and I have a sugar addiction."

"Hi I'm Trevor and I have a sugar addiction."

"Hi I'm Chase and I don't have an addiction."

"It's okay bud, We were all in denial once. But once you come out of the closet it feels great! Doesn't it guys?" Bryce said.

"Yeah!" The class roared.

"Ughhh I'm not in the closet."

"Yes you are. You're just in denial." Bryce stated.

"No I'm really not." Chase pleaded.

"That's what someone in denial would say."

"Am I in the right class?" Chase asked.

"By the time your done with this class. You won't be afraid to come out of the closet."

"I'm not in the closet."

"Yes you are."

"I'm leaving."

"Don't leave!"

"I'M NOT GAY!"

* * *

"So how did Sugar Anonymous go?" Alice asked Chase inquisitively.

"I'm not gay."

"WHAAA!"

WHAAA to the 'I'm not gay' comment or WHAAA to the randomness of the comment? Dun dun DUH! (Chase is not GAY!)


	26. The House In the Woods

"Okay Gerard. What do ya got for me?" I asked as I bent over his desk.

He slid over a folder with several papers in it. Inside was a paper with a name on it, an address, and several other things. On the page behind it, was a photo of a man; Syulee. He had shoulder length hair, glasses, and a few zits. 5' 11" and 155 lbs. He looked like a computer geek, probably was.

"Garret, you don't have much time. Make the most of it." Gerard added.

I smiled and nodded back as I walked out the door with the folder in my hand. I flipped open the folder again and took a second look at the address again. It was out of state. I flipped through the rest of the pages and found a receipt, a bus pass... to Silver Shores!

There were several other pictures in the folder of Syulee, one of which was taken in front of the house in the woods; the one that we visited.

"Chase!" I yelled!

Chase stood there hunched over counter inspecting his gauntlets. They were pretty banged up from just one battle, I wonder how long they'd actually last. Then again, Ben made them so they are probably pretty durable.

"Yeah..." He responded heavily concentrated on his gauntlets.

"We've got to leave...Now!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Besides the fact that Alice, Kao, and Amy are missing? Not much, but I know how to get to Syulee." I proclaimed.

"Chris, I need to get to Silver Shores ASAP!"

* * *

"MHHMMHM!" Alice screamed as two men carried her away. The tape on her mouth refrained her from speaking clearly.

She jerked her body side to side, wiggled her arms, and swung her feet (which were bound together), but nothing loosened their grip. She didn't cry, for she was more angry than anything.

A little ways behind her men were carrying the other children in the same way they were carrying her. Kao was among them, bound and held as Alice was. Amy on the other hand, was escorted through a different corridor. No one touched, looked at her, or even went near her. Four men escorted her, two in front of her and two behind her. The guards stood about 5 feet away from her all around. She wasn't tied up, shackled, or bound.

"ARGGHHHAWWWW! Let my sister go!" Kao yelled as he emitted a flame from his mouth, consuming the tape.

Kao suddenly had an idea. He built up a small flame in the palm of his hand. His hands were shackled behind him. Finally he released it! He shot himself free of the guards grip, landing ahead of them. As they charged at him, he leaped into the air and drop kicked the first guard with his shackled feet. As the next guard approached, Kao leaned in and released another flame from the palm of his hands; sending his shoulder into the guards gut, dropping him instantly. More guards came immediately. Their mere masses overwhelmed Kao. Elbows, knees, fist...the guards put a lot of effort and force into keeping Kao down. Most of it unneeded, but guards got away with what they could.

Alice looked back and smiled at Kao for his attempt. The look he gave back was one filled with pain and agony. The guards continued to beat on him for another 2 minutes or so. The more Alice saw, the angrier she grew.

As the guards escorted the children, they took Alice down a detoured hall. The line of children flowed as Alice was separated from the group. They moved her down the hall until the came to a room; they stopped in front of it and input a code on the number pad. The door unlocked, the guards opened it, and shoved Alice in. There were several other people in there; a few were calm such as Alice, but most were frightened and crying with fear.

Alice landed against the ground of the warm thick, wood floor. As she landed, everything which bound her came undone. The tape rolled off her mouth, the shackles dropped, and her hands were no longer bound.

Guards stared through a window watching the kids and teenagers. The room was obviously sound proof and the windows were about a foot or so thick. Alice stood up, weak and weary, and walked over to the window.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to kill you", Alice stated with an intense stare. The guards stepped back cautiously. Despite their inability to hear her, the still knew what she was saying.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride, Chris." I yelled back as I ran into the woods.

Chase flew this time he didn't care who saw, to him it was better than sitting in a car with cramped wings. It had been a while since Chase last flew like this; free. Chase lowered in altitude and soared above me, but still beneath the trees.

Chase and I approached the house in minutes. It was quiet just like last time.

I opened the door, with my sword drawn out. Chase had his gauntlets ready. This time as I opened the door, no white cat named fluffy zipped out. The house looked just as deserted as the last time. Chase and I crept in quietly. The boards which Alice had cut out were still missing. We hopped down into the hall. This time we could tell the difference between the walls and halls. We walked into a room, it was different than the last time we were here; probably because we weren't seeing an illusion anymore.

"Search around for anything suspicious", I told Chase. We both started looking and moving things around. I grabbed a book from the floor and flipped through it, nothing out of the ordinary.

There were several book cases, a few chairs, a broken down desk, trash everywhere, and what not. Then Chase started to walk down the hall, he flipped on a switch and the room and halls became brightly lit. We no longer had to use the dim daylight which poked through cracks and creases, lighting up bits and pieces of the room.

"How about this?" Chase asked as he stared at a old used number pad which hung on the wall in the hall. "How do we find out the code?"

"Hold on a sec." I said. I felt around the sides of the number pad. "Like I thought, we don't need a code. There's a crest a at the bottom of the number pad."

"So it'll act like a key?"

"DUH BOB!" I exclaimed laughing.

"But we don't have the crest." Chase stated flaring out his wings.

"We don't need the crest", I said with a grin.

I summoned my sword back into a necklace and pressed it against the indent beneath the number pad. The necklace took form to the shape of the crest and activated the number pad. The numbers lit up, awaiting a code to be input.

"So much for not needing the code." Chase chuckled as his wing twitched. I glared at him and he smiled.

"Wait a sec", I said jogging back to the thrashed room. I grabbed a book I was looking through earlier and flipped through the pages. Scribbled on one of the pages was a note...

'_Dear Remi,_

_ They 4 aRe 3On 7 To me.'_

"Certain letters are capitalized, random spaces, and a few numbers thrown into the mix. What does it mean?" I asked myself out loud. "T4R3O7T!"

I read the sequence aloud for Chase to input the code.

"And T!" Chase said pushing the enter button. Nothing happened. "Maybe I did it wrong, let me see the paper."

I tore out the page and handed it to Chase. Chase studied it and reentered the code, no luck.

"Is this talking about the Remi, Alice fought?"

"Can't be, you can tell this was written along time ago." I said. I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out a photo of Syulee. On the side it was dated 198... I couldn't see the last number because it was worn off. Either way I knew it was from the 80's.

"Oh!" Chase exclaimed.

"What?" I said running over to him.

"You forgot the first two capital letters", Chase said smiling. "DRT4R3O7T."

As Chase finished imputing the code, and suddenly below the number pad near the floor a piece of the wall slid up creating a crawl hole large enough for one man to crawl through. I don't know how or where it came from, light seemed to seep in from somewhere.

"Not bad, Bird Boy, Not bad", I said insulting and congratulating Chase at the same time.

His cheerfulness over the compliment made him ignore the insult.

I knelt down and squeezed into the hole first and army crawled my way through. Chase followed, though his wings were cramped in the tight squeeze. I followed the path as it turned sharply and forked into 3 different paths. At this point the crawl hole ended and became a tunnel just barely large enough for us to stand in.

"Which way?" I asked.

"You're the leader." Chase said trying to squirm out of this one.

"You're part of the team too", I added. Chase Smiled and grinned.

"Left", Chase and I said simultaneously.

"Left it is", I declared.

As we traveled through the tunnel our light went out. We walked aimlessly through the dark.

"I think you chose the wrong path", Chase said .

"OW!" Chase and I squealed as we banged our foreheads against a concrete wall.

"Now what", Chase complained.

I drug my hand along the wall, nothing out of the ordinary. Then slid my foot along the bottom of the wall...and found it! Another crawl hole! Went squeezed into the crawl hole once more and wiggled our way through.

This crawl hole was straight all the way and short. It wasn't long before we came to the end. Chase and I crawled out and found ourselves in a closet... together...in the dark. We both wanted to freak, but now wasn't the time. Someone walked by at that exact moment. We could tell by the shadow walking through the light that seeped under the door.

I cracked open the door and peeked out. No one there. Now was our chance.

Chase and I crept out the door. We looked around to double check, no one.

"Garret..."Chase said pointing up to the corner

I summoned my sword,ran and leaped onto the wall, shattered the camera as I sliced through it.

"Chase, we're about to have company", I said as the sound many foot steps echoed through the hall towards them.


	27. My Sister?

"Sir, we have the package. When do you wish to extract?"

"You haven't started?" The man of authoritative rank asked.

"No Sir." The guard replied.

"Extract immediately!" The man ordered.

"Yes Sir. Right away."

* * *

"Garret go. I got this", Chase said calmly as a grin slid onto his face.

I started the other way then glanced back at Chase. He gave me a reassuring head nod as the foot steps drew nearer and nearer. I don't know what it was, but I wasn't too sure about this. My stomach churned more and more, the farther I got away. I had that gut feeling...

I continued down the hall, sprinting in search of the rest of Team Starlight and as I did I heard a scream. ALICE! As the screaming continued, I followed it and narrowed it down to a particular door. It surprised me that there were so few guards through out the halls and no guards in even some of them!

From around the corner I peeked at the guards. I pressed my hands firm against the floor, which was metal. From all my previous battles up until now, I learned that I can control silver without touching it, but any other metal I have to touch to bend. Metal coils spiraled upward around the first guard; stopping his every movement. A thicker sheet of metal formed over his mouth, to stop him from screaming.

The second guard still had his back turned to me. He had his hand held steadily on his gun. I charged stealthily towards him from behind and slammed the hilt of my sword against his thick, hard headed skull. The guard dropped to the floor struggle free.

I walked up to the door and gripped the the handle; locked. I set my right hand sternly against the door metal electronic door. Things buzzed, whizzed, and whirled in the door until it became unlocked. The heavy door groaned as I pushed it open. As the door turned on it's hinges, my eyes shot wide open.

A chair in the middle of the room, men in lab coats, weird new technology, and a girl in the chair; I couldn't see her face her hair flopped over it. Metal clamps held her down to the chair as thousands of needles penetrated her skin.

As the door groaned open, everyone stopped and looked at me. There were a great deal of more guards in the room than there were on the outside. I still had my sword in my hand. For a second no one moved and there was complete silence; except for the girl moaning and grunting cause she couldn't scream no longer. Someone had muffled her mouth with a scarf.

Then several guards made the first move, quickly moving for their guns. Within moments bullets whizzed past me as I dove for cover. Rolling carts packed with experimental tools cluttered the room. The guards were spreading out and starting to corner me. The scientist chucked viles of acid and other chemicals at me as I crouched behind and moved behind rolling carts and shelves. Bullets continued to fly through the air. Not long after the bullets fired, the alarm sounded.

As time slipped by they cornered me more and more by the second. I crawled into a little cubby beside a shelf near the floor. When the first guard walked by I kicked out his leg and slid my sword across his neck. He tried to yell and scream for help, but couldn't as his throat and vocal chords were severed. Blood ran rapidly out his throat. He gasped for air, but quickly lost his conscience; withing moments he passed out. Before more guards could come or even notice one of them was missing, I'd already swapped clothes. My sword morphed into a necklace as I dropped it into my pocket. I picked up the guards gun and played along like I was one of them. I slowly slipped behind the line of guards as the searched ahead, making my way back to the girl.

The scientist hide in the back of the lab area as the guards searched for the intruder. Nearing the scientist, I grabbed several viles of acid and other gases. I looked all around; no one looking. I made a run for the girl.

I gripped the machine which was imputing the needles into the girl. The needles shot out from inside her body; the machine hovering over her moved away to the side. I slid my hand across the metal clamps; they all slid open with ease. I slid my arms under the girl and threw her over my shoulder. No offense to her, but she was a lot heavier than she looked. I don't quite understand how they do it in the movies. Save the girl and throw her over your shoulder; check. Run full blast like you weren't carrying 130 plus over your shoulder; not check. Movies made it seem so much easier. I moved my way as fast as I could towards the door. By this time, the guards had already discovered one of their mans body lying in a puddle of blood. The scientist didn't dare come up from their cover.

It didn't take the guards long to notice me running for the door either. They all at once raised their guns and fired. I dove for cover once more. The girl rolled on the floor roughly as she fell off my shoulder.

"Let's settle this!" I yelled.

I got up and charged the fleet of guards, leaping from table to table avoiding their shots. First guard, I ran and up slashed across his chest. Second guard, I rolled beside him and ran past him as I drug my sword across his waist. Third, I ran up a table, jumped and landed with my sword through his chest. Blood shot up my sword, slashing on my face.

I still had about 10-15 men left firing at me.

"Enough!" I demanded.

I slammed my hand against the floor; several walls of metal grew from the floor, enclosing the guards. I could hear gun shots going off, then every couple second s someone screaming. I assume they got hit by the ricochet of all the bullets. By now scientist were barely peeking up above the counters they hid behind. I reached into my pocket and chucked the viles towards them. They scattered immediately like rats.

I picked up the girl in my arms and walked outside the room. I shut door behind me and set down the girl. I set my hand against the door and locked it. I sat beside the girl. Her breaths were heavy. I moved the pink cameo scarf from her mouth and slid her hair back behind her ears.

"Thank you..." Amy managed. Her pink cameo scarf laid on her lap.

She tried to move, but her body was too weak and sore.

"What is going on? Who are you?" I commanded Amy. Her breaths were still heavy and uneasy.

"I'm... I'm … your... sister!" she cried out!


	28. The Wife, The Death, and The Captain

Foot steps; their sounds echoed through the halls ringing into Chases ear as if repetitive miniature drum pounded constantly. But Chase was ready, he'd already promised he'd take care of it.

A kid finally walked around the corner. He had dark brown hair and faded light blue eyes as if he were... blind.

"Braille!" Chase yelled charging full speed. Braille had Chase's full undivided attention.

Anger flowed through Chase. As did adrenaline; the rush was similar to standing on the edge of a train track and as the train passes by, feeling the cold harsh force of the breeze try to push you back as you stand face to face with the side of the train then it tries to suck you in. Your nose barely escaping the handles, your feet inches away from the wheels which grind down on the iron tracks; the rush of adrenaline.

"_Chase, wait there's something I-_"

Chase cut him off by firing his Chain Whip at Braille. The blade slid across Braille's cheek and the chain slapped him. Braille pulled out one of his Frying Pan Maces and slammed down, blocking Chases second Chain Whip. Chase retracted them in as he continued to run forward.

"_Chase! Listen to me!_"

"No!" Chase roared as hopped into the air and took flight. Despite the extremely low altitude Chase still flew faster than he could run.

"_I don't want to hurt you..._" Braille thought softly. So softly it almost seemed sincere.

"SHUT UP!" Chase demanded Braille.

* * *

"WHAT!" I cried out.

"I know. It sounds crazy, but I have a logical explanation." Amy said as she groaned. "I've learned a lot over the past couple days."

"30 years ago there was a man named Syulee. He was somewhere around his early 20's. Anyway I'm not 100% sure on the details, but he discovered Levaste. Levast were slowly, manifesting themselves in humans over the past century. Humans of previous generations couldn't physically or mentally support Levast. Our generation, Generation Y, has been the strongest generation yet, thus allowing Levast the ability to manifest themselves in us."

"Syulee took it upon himself to research and study these new creatures. He named his research, Project Phantom Heat; He believed that Levast were the overflow of the heart, Thus he called it Phantom Heart. Over time he married his wife Remi, they had two children; Remi and Rallin. But that happened quite a few years later. Anyway as time went by the public started to get suspicious. The government the stepped and took Syulee and his project under their wing. The government cleared the area of rumors and suspicions concerning Syulee and his research."

"The government promised Syulee funding, a facility, researchers, resources, and just about anything else he'd need to complete his research in exchange that Syulee would research how to maintain and control_ Levaste Encrypted Overdrive _so that it would be safe for them to live freely in the world_._ Syulee reluctantly agreed only because he needed the funding and resources. The sector they placed Project Phantom Heart was Sector 18 or S-18."

* * *

As Chase got closer he shot out his Chain Whips again, but this time Chase carefully planned out his move. He waited for the right angles, then... then... _Fwa...ting!_

The gauntlets fired against the metal walls and ricocheted. Braille started to run forward, but suddenly tried to stop as the first Chain Whip barely nicked his chest; nothing serious. The second Chain whip however ricocheted low. Braille tried to sense it coming but delayed his reaction. The second Chain Whip hit at precisely the right angle, drilling its way through Braille's knee cap.

Braille dropped instantly. Moaning in pain he tried to get up. Blood ran out at a slow but stead pace. Chase retracted his weapons in. Braille was suddenly jerked forward through the air. The Chain Whip was still in his knee. Chase whirled his Chain Whips around; Braille slammed between the floor and ceiling until he finally regained control and slammed his Mace against the floor, pinning Chase's Chain Whip.

Braille ripped the blade out of his leg and bore the pain silently. He stood up on one leg, pulling both his Maces out; in doing so releasing the Chain Whip.

"_I can't stop you without hurting you. I'm sorry", _Braille thought out sympathetically.

* * *

"After about ten years, Syulee became satisfied with his research; the government however was not. He hadn't kept up his part of the bargain. The government then demoted Syulee from presidency over the project to vice- president. The government was determined to get their share out of this."

"Syulee wasn't very pleased with this. He realized that it was possible to extract Levast from their users. Now at this time, Levaste and Levast were few, so they had to make the most of everything they had. Syulee thought he could get away with using the government. He later found out that their true intentions were to make it so that Levaste could live peacefully, but as Military lab rats and weapons of war. If the military could extract enough Levast from hundreds of Levaste and put it all into a few users, the users would become Indestructible, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Users are those who are artificially given their Levaste, such as me..."

"As time went by Syulee, learned of a sword containing an unknown power which could delete anything from existence. Syulee figured if he could learn to manifest its power, he could use it to delete S-18 and everything with it; researchers, resources, equipment, research, and anything else that could have been possibly tied to it. He didn't want the government to ever get their hands on any information like this again. He instructed his children to search for this sword; they both agreed. However Rallin, even at such a young age, was working with S-18; as was Remi, but only to get leads on the sword. In time he became a User, Remi did not though. She believed that practice to be wrong."

"About five years ago Syulee and his wife mysteriously disappeared; they haven't been seen since."

"How does this have anything to do with me?" I asked.

"Listen", Amy snapped quickly snapped back.

* * *

Chase wasn't to far from Braille now, but Braille had his weapons drawn. Chase felt the scar across his stomach; it had grown fairly small in the few days, but it still ached. Chase tried to erase his memory of the scar that Braille had left the in their previous battle.

Chase charged forward once more. Braille stood there limped up on his one leg.

Braille swung his Frying Pan Maces frantically trying to hit Chases, but not hurt him. Braille wasn't too sure how to do this. Braille caught a hold of Chase and retracted him in immediately. The blades of the Mace dug into Chase's stomach once again. Chase rolled, mid air, himself free of the spikes, slammed the chain of the mace down and flung himself through the air.

Black out.

Chase opened his eyes. He was on top of Braille. One leg bent on top of Brailles bad knee and the other leg was bent and pressed firmly against Braille's chest.

Chase wasn't sure what had just happened, it just did. Blood splatters were all across Chase's face. He looked down, towards Braille's leg; but that's no where the blood on Chase's face had come from. Blood was still coming out, but at a faster rate now.

Chase looked down directly in front of him. He didn't know how or when, but Chase's gauntlet was pressed firmly against Braille's Chest. A small amount of blood splashed up the side of the gauntlet, the rest had gone on Chase's face.

Chase facial expression had changed instantly. He no longer wore that angry look on his face, but instead it was an expression of sorrow and guilt.

"Wha...aa...what happened?" Chase asked himself aloud.

"I_'m... sorr...y_" Braille manage to think.

Blood spewed out his mouth like a water fountain. Braille's blood soaked into Chases' clothes and stained his hands.

"For what? No! I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I Just... I" Chase tried to explain.

"_A few years ago... there... were women on rampages through out S-18... I killed one of them... un... intenionally... She ….was... you... mo...mom. I'm... sorr...y"_ Braille managed. He was losing himself rapidly.

He'd already lost so much blood.

"Braille...?"

No response. The fountain of blood slowed down to where it barely overflowed the rim of Braille's mouth. He'd suffocated in his own blood.

"Braille...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, but I did what I had to do", Chase said removing the blade from Brailles heart.

"That's it?" A voice spoke out breaking the silence from behind Chase.

Chase stood up and spun around. Within second Chase collapsed with his had wrenched around his stomach. Pain emitted itself from where Braille had hit him with the Chain Mace...twice. Blood slowly came. It wasn't the blood that bothered him, it was the intense pain that continued from his stomach.

Chase managed to look up.

"Doc..." Chase growled, "You made him do it!"

"Actually no, I did not. He chose freely to kill her." Doc responded subtly.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Chase said as he stood up and ran a few feet before falling to the ground again. He clenched his stomach again.

"Like you killed my son?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Chase demanded.

"Did you not kill Braille?"

"WHAA!" Chase's eyes bulged with anger. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be, he had it coming."

"I'm not sorry about that... I'm sorry he was your son."

"As am I. He was quite weak. It was difficult to train him with his disabilities." Doc said.

"How can you say that about your own son!" Chase yelled as he shot out one Chain Whip at Doc.

Doc side stepped slowly. The Chain shot out rather slowly also.

"He's not my son. My son's dead. Remember you just killed him!"

"Shutttt UP!" Chase yelled, " You cowardly murderer! You killed my mother! You killed my mom! You killed her!"

"I didn't kill her. Do you not recall Braille just telling you the truth?"

"You had him kill her!"

"No! Shut up! I never did anything to harm her. I lov.. I took care of her." Doc snapped back with anger.

"You said loved..." Chase said shakily.

"Why wouldn't I love her? She was my wife."

* * *

"As Levaste became more plentiful, the government took them in... presumptuously as test subjects. The government preferably welcomed mothers, with potential to give birth to Levaste, while giving them all they needed and wanted. It was a Beta program under S-18."

"After 5 years of being in the program, many mothers learned of the governments plans for their children. Some of the children were born with Levaste, while others were made Users and in some cases there even children born with Levaste of animal means; Chase. 3 mothers in particular devised a plan to do something about it. They spent a month of planning it out, each and every detail. They planned a specific date and time for it too."

"On the night they were to carry out the plan, something went wrong. Someone intervened that shouldn't have. Mom was one of the 3. Everyone was suppose to escape, but the moms stayed back and bought the kids time. The kids were about 5 - 7 years old or so. Also Prior to that night, the moms had given each of the kids an anti- memory serum; which would take action in about a week. Giving the kids time to escape and set themselves up to survive.

"Garret, you and I were a part of those kids. We were a part of that plan, so was Chase and his Mom and Alice. Kao wasn't originally going to escape with us, but Alice's mom was scared for her little girl to be off in the world all alone. Kao learned of their plan and volunteered to go with Alice to protect her."

"WHAT! Kao isn't Alice's brother!" I exclaimed.

"No. Kao isn't related to Alice by any means", Amy explained.

"How could he not remember that?"

"The Anti- Memory Serum." Amy stated.

"How could I forget something like that? Even after hearing it, I don't remember. How do you remember? How do you know it's true?" I asked.

"I know it's true because I remember it."

"How does Chase remember his mother?"

"It may just be a fake memory created by his mind to fill in the empty memories." Amy answered.

"No. It's not, they're real. He told me everything about him and his mothers death. He remembers. But he doesn't remember us", I said softly, "Do Alice or Kao know?"

"No", Said Amy.

"How do you remember?"

"Garret, I've been with S-18 ever since that night. I didn't escape! You didn't stop running! You didn't come back!"

"No! That's not me. I would've stopped!" I yelled.

"Garret, yes; but it's not your fault. Each of us were told to do something specific in secret. I've just always hoped that's what you were told."

"What were you supposed to do?" I asked.

"It's a secret..." Amy said with a sad smile, "But Garret, it's okay now because we're all together now."

"Not yet", I said.

Suddenly a man came running down the hall. I stood out and summoned my sword and charged him. In his hand he carried a staff. No it wasn't a staff... it was a spear. It was Kao's spear. _Fire Akurei Tsume! _But it wasn't Kao holding the spear, it was a teenage boy.

I slowed my charge to a stop. The teenage boy approached slowly.

As he neared me he set the spear down and knelt down on one knee.

"Garret... I mean, Captain, I have a message from Commander Kao. We are ready when you are."


	29. The Explosion of A Sun

"_20 minutes ago..."_

"Move!" A guard demanded shoving a group of kids and teenagers through the hall.

The kids moved on obeying the guards orders immediately, without hesitation. There were about 20 kids in the group compared to the 4 guards. All the kids feet were shackled together at their ankles, with their hands tied behind their backs. Every kid wore his own pair of gloves, they were made of some special material that prohibited the use of Levaste.

The guards continued to escort the kids into an elevator. Kao reluctantly cooperated with the guards commands as he waited patiently for the perfect opportunity. As the guards guided them inside the elevator, Kao saw his chance. Kao realized from his earlier attempt, that the gloves prohibit use of Levaste through only the areas covered by the gloves or material. As the fourth guard stepped inside the elevator, Kao acted.

The elevator doors had just started to close; Kao had to act fast. He built up and compressed enough fire together beneath his feet and shot himself up and over the last guard. Kao's back flip over the guard went smoothly. As the doors were approaching each other Kao dove out in the nick of time. The doors closed. Kao tried to summon _Fire Akurei Tsume, _but he usually did it with his has hands. He concentrated on his spear the best he could.

"_Fire Akurei Tsume!_" Kao proclaimed violently. Nothing happened.

The doors to the elevator were jerking back and forth, someone in the elevator was trying to over ride the system and open the doors. Kao knew his time was almost up. He hopped to his feet and made his away from the doors as far as possible, while still trying to summon his spear.

The doors slammed open and the guards came charging out towards Kao, leaving the other kids unattended.

"_Fire Akurei Tsume!_ _Fire Akurei Tsume!_ _Fire Akurei Tsume! Fire Akurei Tsume!" _Kao yelled as nothing happened,_ "_Oh come on!"

Just as the guards were about to snag hold of Kao he burst more flames from his feet avoiding them.

"I've got one Choice", Kao said with a non-pleasing grin.

Kao threw himself to the ground, landing on his back. He tucked his knees to his chest. "Hope this works." Kao built up flames at his feet and as the guards neared him, he released them. Flames engulfed the guards as Kao shot himself down the hall, skidding on his back. Conveniently the was a wall to stop him; Kao learned this the hard way as he slammed his skull against the wall, the rest of his body flew up and slammed into the wall also.

Just then _Fire Akurei Tsume _dropped in front of him. More guards were one their way, Kao could tell by the thundering noise of many footsteps. Kao managed to tear his gloves off with the head of his _Fire Akurei Tsume. _He then shattered the shackles binding his ankles together with his spear. He got up and dusted himself off.

"Oh now you come", Kao said chastising his spear ungrateful for the fact that it even showed up.

Up ahead at the elevator kids flocked out of the elevator, Kao ran to meet them; hopefully before the rest of the guards showed up. He chucked his spear ahead at the kids, hoping they'd know what to do. Several kids figured it out as they pushed and shoved each other in hopes to free themselves and escape. One kid was obviously stronger and managed his way to the front; he hopped into the air lining up his hands with the head of the spear. Perfect. The gloves and ties were sliced off. The teenage boy shattered his ankle shackles with the spear, then tore off the special boots he wore, which looked just like the gloves.

Unlike everyone else who just wanted to be free and runaway, this kid stayed and helped the rest of the other kids. By the time Kao had caught up to them, most of the kids were free. A white blast of light hurled through the air. Everyone ducked. Kao summoned his spear to his hand.

These guards had guns and there were about 30 of them. Another white blast exploited itself from one of the guns, which was followed by volleys of white blasts. Most of the kids stood there, then cowardly crunched down to the floor surrendering.

Kao was up front at this time. There were other kids behind him, with weapons, glowing hands, or anima transformations. Kao looked back, then gazed forward. This was it; this was what he'd been waiting for.

"Charge!" Kao ordered! Kids were hesitant at first, but as the guards came closer and the white blasts tore gaping wholes in the floor and walls, they complied.

The white blast seemed to destroy whatever it touched, then vanish. Wholes all over the hall were being eaten away by the shots.

As Kao charged forward, other kids passed him with their weapons ready. The teenage boy who had been first freed made the first move. Suddenly he disappeared into the floor. Then a hand shot up from the floor and snagged hold of a guards leg. The guard tripped, but as he fell he sank into the floor. The kid rose form the ground and tackled another guard into the ground, making him disappear.

As Kao approached his first guard, he lunged his spear forward straight through the guard. Green blood spilt out. A horrible aroma filled the air around. The guards wore intricately designed mask. The guards gave out a roar as they became injured. The guard looked at Kao, then slapped him 20 feet away. Kao flew threw through the air. The guard aimed his gun at Kao. A series of white beams collected in the barrel of the gun, the formed a white ball; which at this pint as hurling towards Kao with immense speed. Kao dove to the side and ran to the guard again.

Apparently it wasn't just Kao having a hard time. Other kids were being thrown back 20 feet also. These weren't your everyday guards. The guard charged Kao first and buried his knee in Kao's face. Blood drizzled down his nose into his mouth and onto his chin. Clumps of blood rolled off Kao's tongue to the floor.

"Bad Choice! Now I'm angry!" Kao proclaimed as he roared. He threw his arms to the side and then curled them in. Flames began to lick all around his body. His clothes actually started to slowly singe away. The metal floor beneath Kao started shift. Garret, Kao thought. No. then he realized. The flames around Kao became so intense that they started to super heat the metal.

Kao took several lunges at the guard with his spear, but the guard simply snagged hold of it and snapped it in half like a twig.

"NO!" Kao yelled. The flames intensified and massive heat waves began to emit themselves from Kao. No it wasn't just the floor, the walls were slowly but surely shifting also.

As the guard started to charge at Kao once again, Kao met him half way. But this time Kao leaped onto the guards chest. Kao gripped the guards helmet and mask with both hands. The guard became stunned and then dead. The Guards head exploded everywhere. Kao hopped down set his hand against the guards chest and blasted it away. An extravagantly large flare blasted the guards body away, frying it at the same time. The body was now black and charcoaled. Steam rose rapidly as the guard cooled off.

Another guard tried to attack Kao. Kao flew up, the flames of his feet carried him up with ease. Kao held out his hands towards the guard. A beam of fire consumed the guard whole.

By now no guards could even make it to him yet alone any of the other kids. As Kao made his way to the mass of guards, all the kids fled. The heat alone, which was emitting itself from Kao, was enough to to cook the guards. But still the guards attempted to make their way to him. Only a few survived the heat alone; but for those that actually made it to him, Kao either simply set his hand on them, exploding them or he'd create a simmering whole through their gut with his fist.

When Kao looked around, there was only one kid left fighting. The same kid whom he'd freed first. The was only several guards left.

Several white blasts were shot at the kid, but they simply traveled straight through him. The kid finished off the rest of the guards by sinking them into the ground.

"Hey!" the teen age boy yelled in an attempt to get Kao's attention.

Kao groaned and roared holding his stomach, then clawed trying to get up. Finally he did but this was different. Orange, yellow, and red flames continued to grow stronger the metal from the ceiling dripped down at a faster rate than the walls did. Kao's heat waves had a radius of 15- 20 feet. His eyes began to glow light red. His clothes were fully singed off now. Despite the massive heat waves and flames, Kao's skin remained intact and perfectly fine. He didn't break a sweat or show any signs of being too hot.

"Holy Crap!" The teen age boy said diving through a wall avoiding Kao's Heat blast. Even with the kid's Levaste, 'Dematerialization', the heat seemed to somehow break through.

The kid reappeared behind Kao.

"Hey are you alright? You almost hit me!" The kid yelled out hoping for a response.

Nothing.

Kao Spun around swung his hand up creating a wall of fire where the kid stood.

"AWWWW! What are you doing!"

Kao summoned pillars of fire in random places. The kid weaved in and out of them. Then finally Kao moved. He stepped forward one step, looked around. He noticed the kid running around. Kao roared and charged. Kao Leaped and slammed his fist down where the kid was moments before. The ground was now cement, all the metal within 30 feet had vanished. Ceilings were stating to collapse, walls gave in, and all life except the kid and Kao had vanished from the area.

"Psss! Over here", a younger girl called out. The teenage boy disappeared into the ground. And found his way to the little girl.

"You have to get out of here. It's very dangerous", the boy whispered.

"No. I can do this, but I need your help and we only have one chance. I have water powers, I can put off the fire guy."

"That's a great idea, but I can't let you go near him. I have to do this, there is only one way and only I can do it, but I have to hurry or he'll die."

"Zack! Don't die, okay?" the little girl said gradually raising her voice from a whisper to talk.

"I love you, Ellie." He responded.

"I love you too, bruder", Ellie, only 5 years old, said. She had trouble pronouncing her th's and didn't fit the words in a sentence together properly all the time.

Zack walked around the corner Kao was still there burning things up.

"Two chances, but hopefully we only need one."

Kao was still rampaging. Zack ran towards Kao stealthily, but Kao sensed him coming. Kao spun around and shot out mini suns. The balls of fire exploded, once they missed. Luckily Zack was already gone. Any moment now Kao would be lost within L.E.O. forever and would have to die along with L.E.O.

This was it...

Zack's hand immersed from the ground directly beneath Kao. Kao grabbed it instantly, and started to super heat it. The flames and the heat were taking their toll on Zack's hand. He only had another second or so, before his hand would explode.

Zack dematerialized his hand along with Kao. But as Kao sank into the floor Something exploded and blood simmered on the concrete floor.

Ellie peaked around the corner.

Nothing, but super heated concrete slabs.

No one, but herself.

"Zack?" Ellie asked.

Several minutes passed by, but still nothing. Then she saw it. A hand, more like half an arm, popped up from the ground. The arm and the elbow were used as leverage to lift the rest of the body out of the concrete. Zack's head poked out, then climbed out completely. The concrete was still super heated. The soles of Zack's shoes melted away instantly as he tried to stagger out of the area. The heat burnt his feet far beyond 3rd degree, but at this point his nerves were already killed. He tripped. His face should've been melted off by the concrete, but something caught him. One of the other kids ran out to help him despite the next kids burning feet. He managed to get Zack away from the super heated area.

"Where's the other guy", Ellie asked.

"It was too late", Zack managed before he passed out.

Suddenly a large chunk of concrete started to sink in and a boy climbed out from within the molten concrete which now glowed light red.

The boy climbed out and stood there... naked. His eye's glowed red for only a moment before they died out to their regular color.

"Can I have some clothes please?" Kao asked as he covered his mid section with a thick flame and grinned out a small laugh.

* * *

A group a Kids stood there in front of Kao, who was now clothed.

"My name's Kao. I need all of your help to save my sister. Before I didn't realize how hard it was going to be, now I do. My sister and I formed a team with other Levast, in hopes to stop Phantom Heart. I helped you escape their bonds and now you owe me a debt. It's time to repay it. Please I need your help to at least save my sister."

There was a silence. A few kids walked away, but the majority stayed.

"Who's with me?" Kao pleaded.

"Dey killed my family, and now my bruder's hurt because of dem. Count Me IN!" Ellie declared. Kao was thankful, but he knew he couldn't let her fight. Everyone else looked at Ellie and smiled.

"Me too", one guy said.

"I'm in", another said.

The rest of the kids agreed and cheered.

"Captain Kao, what's first?" Someone asked.

"First, I'm not the Captain. My team Captain Garret, is; he's our captain. Second, find Garret. Show him my Spear so that he'll now I sent you. Third, find a way to get Zack's injuries healed. And fourth, Save Alice, My sister.

Kao looked back at Zack's arm, which he'd exploded off. He'd also thankfully unintentionally burn it shut so it wouldn't bleed.

"What happened?" Kao asked Ellie.

"You tapped into L.E.O., Solar Burst."

Kao's face went blank.


	30. Her True Power

"Wait, before you start the extraction run a few test. You just to make sure this is the right package?" The man ordered.

"Yes sir."

* * *

The door opened up and several large guards came in. The door closed. They scanned the crowd of kids and approached Alice. Alice was sitting in a corner, arms over knees, and head bent over arms. Guards had been coming in and out taking a new kid with them every time. Alice's heart raced.

The guards leaned down, as if they were going to grab Alice, and grabbed the kid next to her. The wooden floor creaked. Alice heart beat accelerated. As the guards escorted the next kid out, there was a small time frame at which Alice could possibly slip through with the guards, as long as she went unnoticed. The door opened, the guards moved out.

NOW!

Alice leaped into a running position against the wall. She pushed off and ran for the door. The door started to close. As she dove forward with hopes to make it through, the door swung open once more. Alice's skull smacked against door, throwing her back. As she rolled over and and looked up, two guards were hovering over her.

Alice blacked out.

* * *

She woke in another room. The room was circular and had 8 containers aligned up along the walls. Her head was sore and now contained a bruise and lump. As she looked around she noticed a man standing by the door. She tried to form a weapon of ice in her hand as she picker herself up, but the heat in the room prevented that.

"Who are you?" Alice demanded. Her brown hair was covered part of her face. Her body was weak and sore still, but she'd been saving all the strength she could since she got there.

"You are in no position to be asking questions, child." The man responded with a smile.

"I'll ask all the questions I want and you'll answer each and every one!" She yelled as she charged at him.

Two guards stepped in her way. Alice stopped. There was no way she could get past them without her powers.

"You know, you should be thanking me. I've let you live this long", the man chuckled, "Well I'm going to get straight to the point. I need your Levaste, but first I need to make sure you have the Levaste I'm looking for. Alice, do you know what your Levaste is?"

Alice glared at the man with no response. She deliberately chose not to answer.

"You don't know do you?" The man asked.

"If I could show you, I'd demonstrate it on you!" Alice proclaimed.

"Well, well, well angry much?"

Alice glared.

"Well then it's about time you learn your true Levaste. Survive and I'll tell you about who killed your mother." The man stated as he walked out the door.

"Gahh...", Alice's face was blank, "I'm going to kill you, you liar!"

"You might want to kill them first", the man's voice chuckled through a speaker in the ceiling.

Alice turned around to find the two guards pointing their guns at her. White particles started to whirl in the barrel of the gun and continued until they became ball of light. The guards pulled their triggers and the white blasts shot out eating away the first thing they touched.

Alice dove forward and avoided the blasts.

"Hint: Go near one of the containers." The man said through the speaker.

Alice didn't want to trust him, obey him, cooperate with him, or even bake cookies with him for that much; but she knew it was her only chance. She ran to the nearest container. She set her hands on it hoping it would open up and grant her some weapons or something, but nothing like that happened at all; not even close.

In the midst of Alice's hoping, bit and pieces of her body started to change. Small areas all over her body were changing their molecular structure. Alice's right fist gleamed in the dim light. She looked down shocked as can be. Her hand wasn't flesh and skin anymore; it was... a white blast hurled over Alice at the container.

Alice, slightly changed, charged the guards. As she came near the first guard, she cocked her fist back and punched forward. She thrust her arm forward with all her strength. The guard toppled backwards. The second guard had it's gun to Alice's head. Alice took her elbow and swung backwards, knocking the gun out of his hand.

"Hint: when you knock their gun out of their hand without killing them, you push them into physical combat mode."

Alice glanced down at her metalized fist. Small portions of her body were metalized sparatically all over her body. Then there was a groan and scream. From the container she'd touched. Alice's skin started to return back to normal.

Suddenly two more guards dropped in from a hole in the ceiling. The hole close up in a spiral motion.

Scared and panicking, Alice ran to the next nearest container. As two guards charged at her for physical combat and the other two raised their guns, Alice backed up to the container. Hands slid against the metal cases. Each container was about 8 feet tall and 2 feet wide.

Suddenly Alice felt something come over her. She raised her hand and all the guards flew back to the opposite side of the dome shaped room. It didn't take long for Alice to realize, what was going on. She swiped her hand in the air up and down, side to side. The guards moved through the air like rag dolls.

Then there was another groan and scream; from the last container she had touched.

"Have you figured it out yet?" The man said through the speaker.

Alice swiped her hand through the air, but nothing happened. The guards still laid there unconscious.

"Yeah", Alice regretfully agreed.

"Now let me show you the true terror of your True Levaste."

The metal coating around the containers suddenly slid down into the ground. The containers were actually made of glass and inside each and every one was a human. On the glasses were digital screens displaying the person's health, heart beat, and other stuff. Alice looked at the one's she'd touched, their heart beats were flat lined straight across.

Alice swallowed deep and fought back tears. Her body tensed as she grew with anger.

"Your Levaste is very dangerous. You killed to people in order that you may survive unintentionally. I could go into details, but I'll let your mother do that."

"Huh", Alice eyes opened wide as if she'd just discovered how to use her imagination, "What are you talking about?"

"I promised you I'd tell you about who killed your mother, but instead I'll just let you relive the moment."

"What are you talking about?"

Just then the hole spun open and a bottle of pills dropped in. There were two pills in the bottle.

"Eat both pills at the same time and you will get to relive your every memory, even your lost memories in the most realistic way possible. It's like watching your memories in HD." The man said with a persuading voice.

"How do I know I can trust you or that it'll even work? You'll just kill me while I relive my memories won't you" Alice asked.

"I made a promise didn't I? And besides I haven't killed you yet have I?"


	31. Forgotten Memories

The moment Alice popped the pills into her mouth and swallowed, she dropped to the floor in a deep sleep. I was less than a minute for the second pill to take action. First pill was to put her to sleep. If she wasn't asleep when she took the second pill, it wouldn't have worked; though Alice was unaware of any of this. The second pill was the Memory Enhancer.

_'Where am I?' _

Though she was asleep, Alice was still conscious. She wasn't consciously aware of what was going on outside her body, but more or less inside. From here she could control her memories, control what she thought and dreamt. She was acting as the mind; it still did all it's normal involuntary functions on it's own like normal.

She focused on her mom. Blurry floating imaged memories swarmed her sight. Alice went back to her earliest memory of her mom.

There she was, Alice's mother, brushing her hand through Alice's hair, who was only about 1 year old or so. They were inside some building with doctors. Alice recognized the place, it was Phantom Heart's Facility. It saddened Alice that this was her earliest memory, inside Phantom Heart. She moved on through the memories. She didn't know how long she had, how long till she woke up or till the pill wore off.

Memories came that Alice had no remembrance of till now. It was like she knew it, but she didn't. Then it came. Alice suddenly remembered everything; everything that happened that night. Kao, her mom, and the others.

Alice focused on that one night's memory.

…..

"We take action in 5 ladies.", Alice mom said sternly, yet gently.

"The kids drank the serum already right?" One lady asked.

"Ya", Alice's mom responded.

"Kao, you sure you can do this?" Alice's mom asked.

"Ya", Kao responded nervously.

"You won't let her out of you sight, ever?"

"Ya."

"Thank you so much! Your mom would be proud of you", Alice's mom said hugging him. Kao started to choke up.

"Here, take this. Use it to protect Alice", Alice's mom said again.

"WOW! Thanks!" Kao proclaimed.

"It's different type of weapon than you've ever used."

"Oh I've used spears before!"

"Not like this one. This is a summoning spear. Where ever you are, all you gotta do is call on it's name and it will appear. It'll take some practice, but if you get good enough, you can even control the exact position and location the spear summons at."

"But where does it go when I'm done?"

"The spear is linked to your thoughts, so it'll go back to it's space when you are done using it."

"It's own space?" Kao asked.

"Summoning items have their own, well, space. They go to their own place, it's on dimension you could say, which is not accessible by anyone other than owner. There is no way to that dimension however. Item's can only be summoned to and from there, nothing else."

"Oh... Sweet!"

"Are the other kids ready", Alice's mom asked another woman.

"Garret's ready and so is Chase. Are you sure this is the right time? What if something goes wrong?"

"Now is the only time. Now is the only chance we'll have within the next 10 years. Our kids will be killed before then, if they stay here. Our kids are the future, they have to survive. If we wait for the next chance they will have weaponized every Levaste possible and will have brought total destruction on the world. And what if something goes wrong? Somethings going to go wrong. Something always goes wrong. Always anticipate something going and if it doesn't then rejoice."

"Alice", Alice mom said gently.

"Ya mom?" Young Alice responded.

"Just wanted to let you know I love you."

"I love you too mom," Alice said excitedly.

"I love you this much", Her mom said holding her fingers barely apart, "From here all the way around the world!" She drew a big circle in the air starting at one finger and ending at the other. Kao watched from the side, wishing his own mother was here to comfort and love him and hug him and tell him all these things.

"Well I love you twice anything you say!" Alice giggles out.

"Well I love you twice that."

"You can't! I just twiced it!" Alice said with a smile.

"There's been a change of plans, Alice. Chase and I are going to be a group, Chase's mom, Kao, and you are going to be a group, and Amy and Garret are going with their mom." Alice's mom said sadly.

"Why do they get to go with their mom?" Alice questioned.

"Their mom can be pretty hard to reason with sometimes."

"Why do we have to be split up?"

"We decided on that because if something goes wrong, we won't jeopardize the entire plan and everyone's chance because of one. I know it sounds mean and bad, but us adults have our reasons that we really can't explain to you guys at this moment. When we all get out of here, I'll tell you, okay?" Alice's mom explained.

"Okay, but you gotta promise me you'll make it out and that Garret, Amy, Chase, Kao, Chase's Mom, and Amy's mom will too, okay?"

"I will try, but for now you need to get going. Love you!"

"Bye! Love you! See you on the outside!" Alice yelled as she ran down a hall with Kao.

The phrase _'See you on the outside' _rang in Alice's mom's ears, due to the fact that she feared Alice was wrong. It was a hard choice to let someone else protect your kids, when you just as available. But she knew she couldn't jeopardize their mission. Though Alice didn't know this decision was completely pure and out of a love for all the kids.

Then Alice's memory jumped a few less important scenes, until she got to the action.

* * *

"Alice RUN!" Chase's mom proclaimed as loudly as possible.

Alice's mind scanned the memory to find the trouble, but couldn't find it at least until she looked down and saw Chase's mom on the floor bleeding. She looked back to see two guards lying on the floor beside Kao's feet. She didn't know if they were dead or unconscious, but she didn't care either.

"NO!" Alice screamed as she ran back to Chase's mom side.

"Alice! Remember what we were told! 'Don't look back, Don't stop running; even if someone gets hurt or caught!'" Kao yelled at Alice.

"I don't care!" Alice yelled back.

"Come we gotta get you out of here." Alice said trying to lift Chase's mom, but being so young Alice barely had the muscle to move here. "Kao, come help me!"

"No... He's right. Get going." Chase's mom choked out. Multiple small streams of blood poured out Chase's Mom's side. She'd been shot, by actual bullets. This was obviously before the guards got upgraded.

"No! I'm not leaving." Alice pleaded.

"Alice, I'm going to die either way", Chase's Mom said sadly.

"But we have to try!"

"My job here is to make sure you get out safely. Alice, do you want the pleasure of carrying out my last dying wish?"

"No! You can't die! Chase needs you! I need you! We all need you!" Alice yelled.

"Uh oh! More guards!" Kao yelled!

"Alice, listen to me. You've gotta act quickly on this! I need you take my Levaste... permanently!" Chase's mom yelled.

"No, I'll kill you!"

"I don't care. I'm going to die either way! You have to do it. You can't keep borrowing your friends Levaste! All your doing when you do that is jeopardize their lives. You need your own, permanently! Take mine before It goes to waste! I'm going to die anyway! Keep it as a memory! Don't argue with me! Just do it! It's the only way. You'll be taking me out of my misery as well as protecting your friends. Also if you have another Levaste within you, the harder it'll be for Phantom Heart to use your true Levaste and weaponize it", Chase's mom pleaded.

Alice leaned down and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you. Tell Chase I love him." Chase's mom said as tears started run down her rosy cheeks.

"I will", Alice said as she started to activate her Levaste.

Chase's mom suddenly tensed up. Her breath grew short and she started to grasp for air. Alice held on tightly as Chase's mom started to shake and panic. Considering how weak Chase's mom was at the time, the process for Alice went by fairly quick. Within moments Alice had Chase's mom's lifeless body in her hands and at this point she finally understood what the term 'dead weight' meant.

Alice tested out her new power immediately, by demonstrating it on the newly arrived guards. As Alice held out her arm, cold crystals of ice spewed and molded around the guards, stopping them in their tracks. Kao hadn't even had a chance to attack.

"Now can we go?" Kao urged insistently.

"Ya..." Alice said as she took Kao's hand and continued towards their escape route. Then her memory started to fade away as if she was actually being pulled into another.

* * *

"_Alice! Garret! Kao! Someone! Where are you!" _Chase asked linking any of their thoughts that he could. He crawled away one leg limp and one arm stretched across his stomach. Blood still spilled from his stomach. His leg pushing off of whatever he could, his hand clawing at the floor pulling him along.

Behind Chase, lying on the floor, in a pile of blood was Doc. Chase didn't remember what happened; the last thing he remembered was seeing his Black Blade pierce Braille's chest. He grasped for air as the blood ran out and the pain continued.

"_Someone? Please!"_ Chase pleaded through thoughts.

Suddenly Chase caught a thought! Someone else's thought!

"_Hello?"_ Chase asked naively before he was sucked in and blacked out.

Chase had tapped into Alice's thoughts, while Alice was still under the influence of the pills; which forced Chase into a deep trance. Through the Telepathic Speech process Chase linked their thoughts.

He watched his own mother get killed by one of his best friends. Then the pill took it's own toll on Chase and through the thought linkage brought Chase to another sad forgotten memory.

"Where am I?" Chase thought aloud in his mind as he watched a scene vividly start to take place.

"Chase?" Alice asked in her mind.

"Alice! What's going on!" Chase exclaimed.

"Can you see what I'm seeing?" Alice asked.

"Is that me?" Chase asked.

"I took a memory/ dream enhancing pill. It let's one see all their memories, even their forgotten ones. And Chase...I...She... guards... escaped... Kao..." Alice said as her voice started to fade away.

"Alice?" Chase asked. She was gone.

Chase focused on the memory scene which took place.

The young Chase ran down the hall holding onto someone's hand. Chase knew it wasn't his mom. She was beautiful, then Chase realized who it was. It was Alice's mom. They looked very similar. Alice just had teenage take on what her mom looked like. Same hair, same eyes, same facial features; everything.

"Chase, come one we have to hurry." Alice's mom pleaded. "Change of plans. I'm going to run up ahead and take care of the guards. I'll meet you there."

"But you don't have a Levaste", Chase said.

"I'll be fine. I know how to handle myself. See you in a few minutes." Alice's mom said running ahead.

By the time Chase caught up, there were guards everywhere on the floor; 2 there, 3 here, some over there, and some...well everywhere.

"Told you I'd be fine", Alice's mom said smiling. Chase smiled back.

As Chase went to finish catching up to her side, someone ran by shoving Chase to the ground along the way. The person looked back with a sarcastic grin. The person was a kid with two frying pans on his back. His eyes were bright blue.

"Braille! What are you doing?" Chase proclaimed loudly.

"He's obeying his father, unlike you my traitor child", Doc said from behind sternly.

"ARGGHHH!" Young Chase roared out as he charged Braille from behind.

Braille pulled out his Dual Frying Pan Maces simultaneously and continued to run forward. He was running towards Alice's mom. At this time Braille wasn't blind.

"NO!" Chase bellowed as loud as possible.

Braille swung his right arm releasing one of the chains on his mace. The spiked frying pan flew right past Alice's mom as she avoided it. Braille was about to release the second Chain mace when suddenly he was stopped. His elbow caved in and his arm went limp. Chase had struck his elbow with such force. Chase grabbed the falling Chain Mace which Braille had dropped and slammed it across Brailles face. Braille dropped his other Chain Mace and reached for his eyes. Blood sported of his eye sockets. Braille wailed frantically.

Unfortunately Chase was only seconds to late, by the time Chase had taken action Braille had already accomplished his mission. When Braille had missed Alice's mom, he was sad or disappointed because he never intended to hit on the first try. As Chase struck Braille's elbow, Braille's Chain Mace struck Alice's mom as it retracted in. It caught here on the side opposite that it missed. Braille pulled back and like a yo-yo The Chain Mace unraveled itself from around Alice's mom; tearing her literally in half. Alice's mom spun to the ground. The only thing that held her together was her guts.

She laid there in agony, screaming violently, but she calmed down quickly despite the intense pain. Chase immediately ran to her side.

"No!" Young Chase yelled. His eyes swelled up red. Eyes glistened and full of water, tears started to fall.

"Chase! Grab my back pack and Run!" Alice's mom demanded.

"No I can help you!" Young Chase pleaded as he sat in his puddle of tears. All of the kids had grown a strong love for all of the mothers.

"Chase! RUN!" Alice's mom said. Then she raised her hands to her mouth and spit out two metal pins. It took Chase a second to realize what was happening, but once he understood he didn't hesitate. He snagged a hold of the bag and ran.

Chase, modern Chase, suddenly realized were he'd gotten his back pack from. The same one he'd always packed with sugar, Alice's mom had packed with grenades.

On the palms of Alice's mom's hands were four grenades; two in each hand. She summoned all of her strength and thrust it towards Braille, Doc, and all the other guards that's made their way their. Their was a loud bang and explosion, but young Chase didn't even bother looking back. Tears still dripped from his eyes.

"Meet him on the other side of the corridor", Doc ordered.

Chase ran and ran until finally the long narrow hall turned split into two paths; left and right. But as Chase went to enter the intersection, 6 guards stepped from around the corner. With their guns aimed and raised, all of their fingers slid towards the trigger simultaneously. Chase was trapped. He could run back and get killed running. He could try to get out a few grenades, but he had no time. Or he could run towards them, which was suicide.

Just as their fingers should've clicked against the trigger, a large metal razor sheet slid from the wall decapitating all the guards simultaneously. The headless guards dropped to the floor in unison; their guns clanked against the metal floor.

Chase looked up thankful.

"Boy am I glad to see you", Chase said with a smile.

"Let's go", Garret said smiling back.

"Where's your mom and Amy?"

"They didn't make it. They got caught", Garret said sadly, "What's in the bag?"

"Oh nothing much, just bunch of grenades", Young Chase responded subtly trying to hold back his laughter.

"NOTHING MUCH!"

Chase looked at Garret as he held in his laughter. Then they both let loose their laughter as they made their way towards the exit.

"I have an idea for those grenades", Young Garret said. Garret's skills and power at this time with his Levaste were far greater then than now.

Chase and Garret lined up grenades through a metal wire Garret made, so that when one pin was pulled they were all pulled. They were closing this exit. Everyone else was supposed to take other exits. It didn't take long to close the exit; the explosion of the grenades did most of the work. Nah, who am I kidding, the grenades did all of the work.

"Well I guess this is where we split up", Young Chase said.

"I'm gonna miss knowing you and everyone else too", Young Garret said.

"Yeah, me too. Maybe someday we'll meet each other again and everyone else", Chase said.

"Yeah, but that would completely ruin the plan. But I still hope I don't forget you guys; I don't care what I forget just as long as I don't forget my friends and family", Garret said smiling.

"Bye..."

"We'll see each other again you know", Chase said reassuringly, "I just know it."

* * *

Both Alice's and Chase's memories were starting to fade away. Both were starting to wake up. Chase's eyes opened up to see Amy sitting beside her. She was injured, but not as badly as Chase. Chase was wrapped in bandage. He tried to sit, but Amy moved her arm and pushed him back down gently. Chase could tell by the look on her face that it hurt to to move. Chase laid back down to rest, then dozed off.

* * *

Alice woke up lying in a corner of a dark cold room. The floor was made of concrete. The walls of some other material she couldn't make out by sight alone. She tried to move, but was too sore. She tried scanned her body with her eyes then realized she couldn't; then struggled to scan with her hands. She found no wounds, just that her body was extremely, extremely sore. The was no light, no sound, no movement; no sign of life. The air didn't flow to and fro, it simply stood still. The air was dry, really dry; despite the cold floor.

She was bound at her ankles by some device. Memories swirled about in her as her every memory had returned; even the one's she didn't want. She tried to summon some ice, but nothing happened. She hoped it was due to the fact that she was weak. Right now she felt alone, but knew God was right beside. All she could do was pray and Trust God.

**Alright so stories of the week Referred by me!**

**1. Reverse, by Kaystories**

**2. Icarus, by Chaison**

**3. Death is not an option, by LonelyUeki**

**4. Secrets, by That Girl Laura

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**Also send me a PM telling who your favorite Character is and why!

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_***R&R* Please Review! *R&R***_

**Reviews let me know whether I'm doing good or not.**

**Also every time an Author sees a review his hearts jumps,**

**well at least mine does.  
**


	32. Trapped In the Mind of a Girl

Asleep in my arms, Amy slept sound. The thought of her being my sister still woe'd me. I'd seen this kind of stuff on TV plenty of times, but I never would've guessed that it would happen to me. Her brown hair drooped down on her cut cheek. Thousands of small puncture wounds imbedded all over her body; I couldn't imagine the pain she was in. Yet she still found the strength to stay strong.

Amy's arm curled up around my neck as we followed the teenage boy, who was leading us to our new supposed Army. My eyes peeled open in surprise as I looked down and smiled at my new found sister. The teenage boy gripped onto Kao's spear tightly. I hadn't shown much interest to it, but I finally noticed that spear was broken.

"What happened to Kao's spear", I asked concerned. Obviously there had been a battle of some sort. I mean I highly doubt he just tripped and broke it. But knowing him...

"You should be more worried about Kao after an event like that", The boy said, "A guard simply grabbed it and snapped it, with ease."

"What happened to Kao", I asked intrigued. My facial expression grew serious.

"Well he's okay now, but after that episode... whew. Put it this way, I never ever want to make Kao mad."

He still didn't answer my question, but I let it be. Maybe it was a touchy topic or something, I don't know.

"We're almost there. My name's Seth by the way", The boy said.

"Nice to meet you, Seth." I said with a smile.

As we continued to walk, we walked past several empty corridors, One ,however, was not empty. I saw a dark figure move towards us slowly. At this speed, we would easily out walk it. But this wasn't a chance I was willing to take.

"Here, take Amy. I've got something to handle. Keep her safe, don't let her get any more hurt than she is", I commanded the Seth.

He took hold of Amy. His arms wrapped around her tightly. His eye's filled with sorrow quickly.

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"I know how it feels to lose a sister. I promise I'll take care of her", Seth said as his eyes filled with tears of memories. He ran off in a rush.

I wanted to comfort him, but I had a mission at the time. Sorry. I looked back once to make sure he was fine; he was.

By now the person in the shadows of the corridor, had walked out into the light. His dark brown hair, Shoulder length sat still beside his head. Then there was a silence. No, I mean an absolute silence. Even our breaths couldn't be heard. He had a dark gray tattered cape hanging from around his neck. It carried a symbol on it. His robotic arm looked dented and beat as if he'd been in a series of battles recently.

"Ben, what do you want?"

"I'm here to help you", Ben replied. His hair sagged, covering deep sea green eyes. He stopped in his tracks and stood still.

I watched as his breath fogged up in front of him, then evaporated away. Cuts and scars, sleeve coated his arm; dirt and blood rested upon his face.

"You can help, but don't get in my way", I responded. I was on a mission to save Alice and I wasn't going to stop at nothing until she was safe; Safe with Kao, Chase, and I. I promised myself that I would never let this happen again.

"No. You're missing my point. When I say I'm here to help you, I mean it; but not in the way you think. Garret, I'm here to stop you", Ben said softly, "Please understand, Garret, that everything I'm doing is with good intention. There is more to this picture than you can see."

"I'm done talking with you, Ben. This is a pointless conversation and I've got a friend to save", I said turning around. I watched my back from the corners of my eyes.

"That's why I'm here to stop you. If you go after Alice now, You'll surely die!"

"Shut up! You don't know that! I'm getting stronger! I can save her!" I screamed. It hurt me to hear him say I couldn't save her.

"Garret, Please don't make me do this", Ben said lifting his head. The lights reflected off his glasses, which were still mostly covered by his hair, as a yellow/ golden stare. He sighed sorrowfully.

Ben held out his modified arm. A Large Katana formed inch by inch. An inch of a blade slid out of his robotic arm, then an inch of a blade slid out of that inch. That continued until the Large Katana was completely formed.

I spun around, flicking my arm out. My sword swiveled like a snake off my neck, into my hand forming a steady, firm sword of Silver. My hand was shaky, though I wasn't exactly sure why.

"Last chance, Garret. Walk away and no one will get hurt", Ben pleaded with sincerity.

"The only one getting hurt will be you. Stand down!" I demanded. Rage swept over me, the moment I was challenged.

"Garret, I'm sorry, but you've brought this upon yourself. There's so much more I wish I could tell you."

Ben swung his head up. His hair lifted and fell to the side. His face came into full view. Then he charged.

I started to react by charging back then, it hit me! I released my sword, allowing it to reform into a necklace around my neck. I watched as Ben's Facial expression changed to one of confusion. Nevertheless, Ben, didn't relent or turn back or even hesitate for a moment. He wanted to take me out and he wanted to take me out now!

As I came into range of his blade, Ben swung. Wrong choice.

* * *

The effects of the pills were waring on and off Chase. Memories would come and go as they pleased, teasing Chase meanwhile. He was still in his head as Third person, but could no longer control it. He wasn't sure if His and Alice's mental links were still connected.

"Alice?" Chase asked through his thoughts.

No response.

Suddenly a pain shot up Chase's back, then through his legs and arms. His head started to pound against itself and His chest cramped up. His veins flared in and out. His muscles swelled up.

Chase tried to wake up, but he still wasn't in control of himself. The pain continued, relentlessly attacking his body; Though to those awake, Amy, they saw no sign of struggle. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Amy awoke the moment they got to the base and requested to be with Chase. Seth complied. She watched over Chase, knowing his wounds were much worse than hers.

But in reality, on the inside Chase bore great pain. It was a struggle between his mind and soul and something else. Chase just couldn't put his finger on it. It felt as though whatever it was, was tearing him apart.

Suddenly Chase caught a grip on reality and pulled himself through it. A small light up ahead; Chase crawled towards it. Whatever was attacking him had stopped momentarily, allowing him enough time to crawl into the light. As Chase crawled out, he realized he wasn't crawling at all. In fact he'd finally woken up. He needed help fast, he wasn't sure what was wrong, but he knew he wasn't physically or mentally stable. As he tried to get up, Amy's hand pressed down softly against his chest, but to Chase it felt like and iron bar pinning him down. I looked up to catch one last glimpse Amy's beautiful face. The light reflected off of her cheeks as if she'd been crying.

Chase tried to hold on, but couldn't. He slipped back into a deep sleep instantly. The attack followed immediately. Chase keep a grip on himself any longer; he finally slipped. Whatever was attacking him, now grabbed him tightly and pulled him away from himself. He felt as though he was being torn from his body. He felt like he was falling into an endless abyss of darkness. Chase tried to move, but his mind wouldn't succumb anymore.

Finally after what felt like hours, Chase slammed against something.

"OWWW!" Alice screamed out with pain.

"_Alice!" Chase thought as loudly as possible._

"Chase? Where are you? This isn't a telepathy link, it's way to clear for that. It sounds like you're right in front of me. Are you okay?" Alice questioned.

"_I don't know. There was something attacking me. Then I tried to wake up, but Amy put me back to sleep. Then...Then I heard your voice. I don't know what's going on." Chase tried to explain._

"Well you're okay now right?"

"_Ya I think so."_

Suddenly a pain seared through Alice's head.

"OWWW! Not again!"

"_Does it feel like your being torn apart? Is your chest cramping? Are your muscles swelling? Veins flaring?" Chase asked._

"YES! All of those! IT hurts! Make it stop! How did you know all of this?"

"_I just got done going through them. Alice, Crawl to the light", Chase instructed in his thoughts. _

"What light? There's no light. There's a concrete floor and wooden walls! There's no light. Nothing else!" Alice yelled!

"_Wait. Are you asleep?"_

"No! Trust me, I'm more than awake!"

"_Oh... I was asleep when it happened to me. Then... for you... I don't know." Chase said. _

"Oh thanks! That's helpful." Alice stated sarcastically.

Suddenly the pain went away, like someone had just washed it away. She hoped it would stay like this, but instead a new pain came upon her.

"AGHHH! Now what!"

Alice's back felt as though it were being torn open. She felt as though something were crawling out of her back. She fell to her knees, then to her stomach. She moaned and groaned as she rolled on the cold concrete in pain. Then the pain left again.

"Is it done?" Alice asked coughing up blood.

"_Alice, What's going on? I can't see. Keep me updated!" Chase pleaded mentally._

"Just end the telepathy link, wake up, and get me out of here! I want to go home!" Alice cried out as tears fell to the floor. She tried to hold them back, but her emotions got the best of her.

Alice finally stopped crying and got up. Then pain had gone away in all areas except for her back. Alice reached her arm around to massage the area of her back which was sore. But as she thought about massaging it, she discovered something new.

Her eyes opened wide. Her jaw left open and speechless. She moved her hand along the edge of her back. She closed her mouth and swallowed deep. Her head slowly turned around as she tried to look at her back. Time wasn't of the essence here; Alice took her sweet time. Each new moment vouched for the nightmare which had just begun.

"Oh... No... This can't be happening. How could this happen?" Alice asked in horror.

"_What? What happened?"_ _Chase asked?_

Alice suddenly put everything together, understanding it all.

"Chase, you never ended the telepathy link did you?"

"_Umm? I think I did... I hope I did why. It's not like it'd hurt anyone anyway", Chase said with shaky thoughts. _

"Ughh. This isn't good."

"_What?"_

"Chase you realize by now what my true power is right?"

"_No, what is it?"_

"I absorb Levaste. I can steal them from another Levast and use them myself."

"_Oh. That's SO COOL! Why haven't you used this before?" Chase thought out loudly with excitement. _

"Chase, I stole your Levaste!" Alice proclaimed!

"_You what?"_ _Chase asked. _If you could see is eyes they were bulged wide open in fear.

"Chase do you know why you're here?"

"_No! I already told you."_

"Because when I unintentionally stole your Levaste, I must have stole you too. Your Mind and Soul are so tightly tied to your Levaste, that in order for me to use yours I had to bring you along!"

"_Does that mean I've been segregated from my body?"_

"Yes."

"_Then does that mean I'm... "_

"Trapped inside me? Yes." Alice said softly.

"_So then our senses should be connected right? Try them out."_

"Chase why aren't you mad? You might not be able to ever return to your body!" Alice said with sorrow.

"_Because I've learned to forget the little things", Chase thought out. _

"_So you can forget that I might kill you, but not that some random guy stole your sugar... LOL!" Alice thought to herself. _

"_You realize I can still hear you", Chase mentally smirked._

"_Damn! I forgot about that!" Alice said with a mental giggle._

"Wait, Chase bat your wings. Quick! Then I'll test out our senses, I promise!"

Chase turned his mental body around and flapped what he imagined to be his big juicy bat wings.

Alice watched as the bat wings, new to her body, flapped ferociously lifting Alice off the ground.

"_Wait does that mean..."_

"Your still in control of your Levaste! Your just trapped inside my body! You merely exist in my body, you have no control over anything, but your Levaste."

Alice finally tested out their senses. She sniffed the air, felt the ground, snapped near her ear, and tried to see whatever she could in the dark cold room, which was nothing.

Chase confirmed that they all worked except for the sight, which there wasn't anything to see anyway. They would have to test that sense out later.

"_Then this also means our mental and spiritual strengths are combined right?" Chase asked._

"Ya", Alice said smiling, "Chase, We're breaking out of here!"


	33. Last Stance

As I came into range of his blade, Ben swung; wrong choice.

My hand shot up to meet his blade. I simply gripped his blade, met force with force. Instantly Ben's entire Mechanical arm shattered. Metal flew everywhere and clanking against the ground as it dropped lifeless. Ben simply stared at his arm and laughed hysterically. Blood started to drain out of his arm. The Several layers of skin had been torn off. Then I remembered Ben saying he'd built it into his arm.

"AHH HAHAHAHA! Ignorant child! You can't hurt me! You may hurt this body, but you will never be able to hurt me!" Ben exclaimed.

"Ben?" I asked. He seemed different.

"OH WOW! I actually fooled you!" Ben said as he coughed up some black vapors. The vapors disintegrated in midair.

"ARGHHH! Who are you!" I demanded as I charged in. My sword flashed in and out as the dim lights reflected on and off it.

As I approached Ben, he stood there. I raised my sword as I leaped.

"Don't forget if you hurt this body, you'll only hurt your friend", The Not-So-Ben Said.

The flat of my sword came down hard on Ben's shoulder. I held the blade to his neck.

"What have you done with Ben?"

"Oh he's here. But once I possessed his body, he lost control. My mind and Spirit were far too strong for his comprehension, but that's just how we Shadow Tamers are. You know, possess a few bodies, test our strength; that kind of thing." He said with a snicker.

"Eh!… I'm going to kill you!"

"To kill me you'd have to kill your friend", The Shadow Tamer said with a grin.

"Or we can use my solution", I said snickering back. "I know how this works. It's not that Ben's weak or couldn't handle you, but rather you sucker-punched him somehow; one way or another. And the only reason your still in control of his body is because while you're conscious, his mind is temporarily sleeping inside a coma. All I have to do is get you unconscious; even for the slightest moment."

"Maybe you are smarter than you look, but in any case you still have to knock me out", he said clenching his one fist.

"Actually I don't have to move a finger", I said. Ben's blood was draining at a decent rate; His body would lose consciousness in no time.

"GAH! You cocky little brat! I'm going to devour you!"

"Good luck with that", I said smirking.

He started to run at me. I stood and stared, then watched as he fell to the floor unconscious. I ran over to Ben's body as Ben started to gain consciousness.

"You alright", I asked?

"Yeah… thanks", the real Ben said.

Ben tried to get up but fell immediately. His energy and blood were still depleting; fast.

"Wo! Hang on there. I got you", I said as I helped Ben to his feet and gave him a leaning shoulder. "I'm going to get you to camp. Hopefully someone can help you there. What happened?"

"Back in the search for Alice, I took on one of Chase's battles for him. It looked like one opponent, but there were a multitude of them. They all jumped me. I kill nearly all of them, but the main one suddenly fainted during the battle. Black mist perpetrated out of his mouth and I inhaled it accidentally."

'He possessed Ben by turning himself into a vapor?' I thought.

Suddenly Ben started coughing up black vapors.

"How do we kill him?" I asked.

"We can't unless he's in a physical form and we can't kill anyone he possess'. But we can capture him. Quick make something!" Ben said in a hurry.

"Like?"

"SOMETHING TO HOLD HIM INSIDE!"

"Oh..."

I knelt down to the ground and pressed my hands against the cold metal. A metal box started forming around the shadow tamer. as i continued Ben said, "Thicker. We have to make sure he never gets out."

Transmuting metalic molecules other than silver, really put a strain on my mind and body, but it didn't phase me with so much anger and adrenaline running through my veins. I had one goal, One mission; and that was to save Alice. I wasn't going to let something so petty stop me.

"That should hold him for a while", Ben said smiling.

I lifted Ben up and put his arm around my neck and made my way to the base.

"How are things going?" Ben asked.

"We've added a few more team mates, but Amy injured and Alice is still missing", I reported.

* * *

When we came back to base, we found a surprise.

"CHASE!" Amy yelled.

His body was cold, his breaths were light, he wouldn't wake up, and more importantly his WINGS WERE GONE!

"What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know! He just started shaking and his wings disappeared!" Amy exclaimed. But Chase wasn't shaking anymore.

"Kao!" I yelled.

"Hey!" He replied.

"What happened", I asked?

"With what?"

"Everything", I said.

"Well to make things short. I tapped into L.E.O., Burned off Zack's arm, made a base, collected more team members, killed a few guards, then Seth brought Amy back, and Chase lost his wings", Kao said happily somehow.

"Kao, get Ben some help will ya", I said following Kao with Ben still hanging on my shoulder.

We got Ben some temporary medical help.

"Kao, we're going to find Alice", I said.

"But what about…"

"Kao, you said I was captain, right?"

"Ya, but…"

"That's an order. Alice is our number 1 priority", I stated.

"But Garret, what about everyone else? It's not just the 4 of us anymore", Kao brought to attention.

"Leave Seth in charge. Kao, you can stay, but I'm going to save Alice; whatever the cost and I NEED YOUR HELP!" I said, "Kao, this is our final stance. We can't keep doing this."

"Then count me in!" Kao said with a smile.

"Amy, watch over Chase till he gets better will ya", I asked?

Kao explained the plan to the group, but there was outrage.

"WHAT? You're leaving us?" Someone cried out.

"Why can't we come?"

"Because we're probably going to die doing this, but whatever the cost I'M GOING… no WE'RE GOING TO SAVE ALICE!" I yelled.

"Then let us come! You need our help!"

"It's too dangerous", Kao said.

"Fine", Seth said, "Go."

Kao and I both smiled and gave a nod of appreciation to Seth.

"Kao let's go save Alice!"

Our Last Stance!


End file.
